INDIAN  OLD-MAN 
STORIES 

MORE  SPARKS  FROM  WAR  EAGLE'S 
LODGE-FIRE 


FRANK  BLINDERMAN 

Illustrated  by 

Charles  M-Russell 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 


BY  FRANK  B.  LINDERMAN 

INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

More  Sparks  from  War  Eagle's  Lodge-Fire 

INDIAN  WHY  STORIES 

Sparks  from  War  Eagle's  Lodge-Fire 


ON  A  PASSING  FRONTIER 

Sketches  from  the  Northwest 

CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


'Brother,'  said  Quo-too-Quat  to  the  Wolf,  'have  you  seen  the  White 
Buffalo  lately?'"  [Page  12 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN 
STORIES 

MORE  SPARKS  FROM  WAR 
EAGLE'S  LODGE-FIRE 


FRANK  B-LINDERMAN 

[CO  -  SKEE  •  SEE  -  CO  -  COT] 


CHAHLES  M.  RJJSSELL 

[CAH'NE'TA'WAH'SEE'NA'E'KET] 


CHARLES  SCRIBNER:S  SONS 

NEW     YOILK       -    2920 


COPYRIGHT,  1920,  BY 
CHARLES    SCRIBNER'S   SONS 


Published  September,  1920 


TO 
LITTLE    BEAR 

(CHIEF  OF  THE  CREES) 

Seamed  and  old,  the  pawn  of  progress 

In  the  wicked  hand  of  fate, 
Silent,  sullen,  unrelenting 

In  his  deep,  undying  hate: 
Hate  that  want  brings  to  the  haughty; 

Hate  that  pride  alone  can  feel; 
Hate  that  comes  of  wrongs  inflicted; 

Hate  and  sorrow,  deep  and  real. 

Step  by  step  and  ever  backward 

O'er  the  ground  his  fathers  trod; 
Fighting  e'er,  and  e'er  invoking 

Strength  and  peace  from  Pagan  god- 
Gone  his  greatness  and  his  freedom; 

Grinning  want  alone  remains; 
Bison  skulls  and  wallows  mock  him 

On  his  old,  ancestral  plains. 


5231)8 


FOREWORD 

IN  the  Preface  to  "Indian  Why  Stories"  I 
endeavored  to  tell  of  OW-man  (or  Napa,  or 
Nahpee,  or  Napi),  an  under-god  of  the  Indian 
tribes  of  the  Northwestern  plains,  especially  of 
the  Crees  and  Chippewas,  with  whom  I  am  best 
acquainted. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  declare  that  the  sun  is  the 
god  of  the  Indian,  or  that  Old-man  and  the  sun 
are  one  and  the  same  character.  Nothing  can 
be  farther  from  the  truth.  The  god  is  Manitou, 
and  He  is  All  —  Everything  —  Nature;  while 
the  sun  is  reverenced  by  all  tribes  that  I  know 
only  as  the  greatest  manifestation  of  the  deity, 
whose^name  is  seldom  mentioned. 

Old-man,  or  Napa,  created  the  world  and  its 
inhabitants.  His  mistakes  and  weaknesses  are 
freely  discussed,  and  the  laugh  accompanies 
tales  of  his  doings;  but  mention  Manitou  and 

vii 


FOREWORD 

silence  falls  upon  the  merrymakers.  Reveren 
tial  awe  replaces  gaiety,  and  you  will  feel  that 
you  are  guilty  of  intended  sacrilege. 

Many  years  ago  I  was  in  the  lodge  of  Full-of- 
dew,  who  is  War  Eagle  in  this  book  and  in 
"Indian  Why  Stories."  He  was  telling  tales 
of  Old-man,  and  while  all  the  company  laughed, 
I  remained  silent.  "Why  does  not  my  brother 
laugh  with  us?"  asked  the  old  warrior.  I  had 
feared  to  laugh  at  the  stories  lest  the  Indian 
believe  that  I  was  not  serious  in  my  desire  to 
learn  of  this  strange,  mythical  character,  and 
I  told  him  that.  "We  always  laugh  when  we 
speak  of  OW-man,"  he  said.  "You  should 
laugh  aloud  with  us  when  we  speak  of  him.  He 
expects  it  and  always  laughs  with  us  from  the 
past." 

I  have  tried  to  prove  for  myself  that  Old- 
man,  under  different  names,  is  an  under-god 
of  all  tribes,  and  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
go,  I  have  found  that  he  is. 

The  novice,  writing  of  Indian  beliefs  and  cus- 


Vlll 


FOREWORD 

toms,  is  a  dangerous  man  if  his  findings  are  to 
be  recorded  as  historical  facts.  For  after  all 
my  study,  the  Indian  is  still  much  of  a  mystery 
to  me.  He  has  trusted  me  and  has  always 
been  willing  to  tell  me  of  himself,  but  he  is  fair 
and  attributes  to  you  a  mind  as  great  or  greater 
than  his  own.  There  is  the  trouble.  Ask  him: 
"Is  the  sun  God?"  and  he  may  reply  "yes"- 
simply  "yes,"  for  he  believes  that  you  know 
that  ALL  is  God.  He  reasons  if  you  desired 
further  information  you  would  ask  for  it  in  a 
direct  question.  Therefore,  out  of  respect  for 
you,  he  volunteers  no  information  —  no  extra 
measure.  You  must  know  much  of  the  Indian 
or  you  will  learn  nothing  directly  from  him. 
He  is  a  poor  teacher,  and  your  beliefs  or  find 
ings  concerning  him  are  your  own,  and  of  no 
importance  to  him.  He  insists  that  this  should 
be  so,  for,  above  all,  the  Indian  is  an  individ 
ualist  in  all  things. 

White  men  who  have  lived  lifetimes  with 
tribes  often  know  almost  nothing  of  the  people. 

ix 


FOREWORD 

Men  who  have  tried  to  learn  have  sometimes 
jumped  at  conclusions  concerning  the  religion 
and  customs  of  the  Indian,  and  because  of 
direct  answers  to  single  direct  questions,  have 
recorded  untruths.  It  is  far  too  late  to  study 
the  Indian,  now.  The  old  men  are  dead.  The 
young  men  have  learned  little  of  their  ancient 
customs.  What  we  have  saved  of  facts  is  full 
of  distortions. 

Men  have  called  him  a  stoic  —  a  man  with 
out  humor,  and  as  such  the  Indian  is  branded 
for  all  time,  I  fear.  But  he  is  full  of  humor  and 
feels  keenly  as  do  all  natural  men.  He  hides 
his  emotions  because  of  his  respect  for  others, 
and  I  believe  that  his  silence  in  the  great  out- 
of-doors  is  because  of  his  reverence  for  other 
created  things  which  can  neither  speak  nor 
move.  Created  by  the  same  power,  he  shrinks 
from  flaunting  his  special  favors  before  them, 
and  so  is  silent,  lest  his  power  to  move  and 
speak  make  them  jealous  before  his  god.  He 
believes  that  to  all  of  His  creations  the  All- wise 


FOREWORD 

gave  some  peculiar  power,  and  instead  of  being 
jealous  of  these  gifts,  which  he  often  recognizes 
as  greater  than  his  own,  he  respects  them  as 
special  marks  of  respect  from  the  hand  of  his 
own  Maker.  Strength,  bravery,  endurance, 
speed,  and  cunning  —  everything  that  contrib 
uted  to  make  his  own  wild  life  a  success,  or 
marked  him  with  distinction  as  an  individual 
among  his  kind,  is  reverenced  when  possessed 
in  an  equal  or  greater  degree  among  the  lower 
animals  and  birds.  He  will  tell  you  that  the 
Antelope  is  swifter,  the  Bear  greater  in  war, 
and  the  Wolf  a  more  cunning  hunter  than  he; 
and  if  you  beat  him  at  any  game  he  knows, 
even  though  he  might  be  the  most  skillful  of 
his  tribe,  he  will  proclaim  you  as  his  friend  - 
a  greater  man  than  himself.  There  is  no  jeal 
ousy  in  his  heart,  and  he  is  the  most  graceful 
loser  among  men.  It  is  true  he  will  give  no 
voice  to  his  suffering.  To  do  so  would  give  his 
friends  pain  and  his  enemies  joy,  and  he  will 
contribute  to  neither  by  his  groans. 


XI 


FOREWORD 

He  believes  in  a  future  life  and  does  not  ex 
clude  from  his  heaven  other  created  beings. 
He  does  not  dare  to  decide  who  are  fit  for  his 
paradise,  but  leaves  that  to  his  god.  Because 
he  believes  that  in  a  future  life  there  will  be 
happiness  and  comfort  (and  in  the  Indian's  life 
on  earth  there  was  hardship  and  hunger)  he 
has  supposed  that  his  dog  and  his  pony  will 
share  in  that  life,  and  contribute  to  his  welfare 
as  they  did  in  his  life  on  earth.  Old  Indians 
have  told  me  that  there  was  no  devil  "until 
the  black-robes  brought  him/'  and  so  I  take  it 
that  in  the  pure  beliefs  of  the  Redman  there  was 
no  such  thing  as  Satan.  I  have  been  told  by 
aged  Indians  that  all  men,  save  suicides,  go  to 
heaven,  eventually,  and  that  all  men  are  pun 
ished  here  for  their  ill  deeds.  They  say  that 
some  do  not  reach  the  good  land  at  once,  but 
tarry  with  the  ghost-people  in  the  sand-hills. 
After  a  time,  however,  these  go  to  heaven  with 
the  rest. 

Nearly  seventy  years  ago  a  band  of  Chippe- 

xii 


FOREWORD 

was,  several  hundred  strong,  disliking  the  en 
croachments  of  the  white  men,  came  to  the 
plains  to  stay.  Their  wars  with  the  Sioux, 
and  the  fact  that  they  had,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  driven  them  from  the 
Lake  Superior  district  to  the  Dakotas,  would 
seem  to  prove  that  the  Chippewas  had  always 
used  the  plains  at  will,  although  essentially  a 
forest  tribe.  This  band  of  Chippewas,  upon 
leaving  the  main  tribe  to  the  eastward,  associ 
ated  themselves  with  the  Crees,  with  whom 
the  Chippewa  nation  claims  kinship,  and  thus 
became  involved  in  the  Kiel  Rebellion  in 
1885. 

Even  though  surrounded  by  mists  of  super 
stition  there  is  yet  beauty  in  the  rites  and  cere 
monies  of  the  Indian.  Dignity  is  always  pres 
ent.  I  was  in  the  lodge  of  Big  Rock,  a  medicine 
man  of  the  band  of  Chippewas  (by  adoption  I 
am  his  brother),  when  I  took  part  in  a  " medi 
cine-smoke/'  Charles  Russell,  the  cowboy  art 
ist,  has  made  a  drawing  of  the  setting  within 

xiii 


FOREWORD 

the  lodge,  as  described  by  me  at  the  time,  and 
it  is  herewith  appended.  In  the  ceremony  will 
be  found  much  of  the  religion  of  these  people. 
I  believe  it  covers  all  of  the  essential  points, 
and  I  will  therefore  describe  it. 

The  lodge  was  on  the  plains,  and,  as  is  usual, 
a  rawhide  guy-rope  reached  from  the  top  of 
the  lodge-poles  to  the  ground  inside  the  lodge, 
where  it  was  fastened  to  a  stake.  Before  be 
ginning  the  ceremony  this  was  removed  be 
cause  "we  are  not  afraid  of  the  winds  when 
we  smoke  the  medicine-pipe,"  explained  Big 
Rock,  and  "besides  the  rope  divides  us  in  the 
lodge.  It  comes  between  men."  An  imaginary 
trail  led  straight  across  the  lodge  from  west 
to  east.  It  was  not  occupied  nor  littered.  It 
was  the  open  way  for  the  spirits  of  all  departed 
beings,  and  was  spoken  of  as  the  "Buffalo's 
trail/'  A  painted  lodge  is  a  constantly  offered 
prayer,  and  as  it  must  face  the  East,  the  imag 
inary  trail  is  also  the  way  of  the  sun.  Some 
times  painted  lodges  among  other  tribes  face 

xiv 


FOREWORD 

the  South,  that  the  sun,  at  his  meridian  height, 
may  look  through  the  door;  but  the  lodges  of 
the  medicine-men  that  I  have  known  face  the 
East.  The  first  fire  in  the  imaginary  trail  was 
the  Sacred  fire  —  the  Holy  fire,  and  was  but 
four  glowing  coals  that  had  been  taken  from 
the  regular  lodge-fire  and  deposited  in  a  square 
within  a  square  of  the  perfectly  cleaned  earth. 
Each  spear  of  grass  and  foreign  thing  was  care 
fully  removed  before  the  coals  were  deposited, 
and  only  sweet-grass  or  sweet-sage  was  burned 
upon  the  coals.  In  the  smoke  of  the  incense 
given  off  by  the  fuel,  the  pipe-bowls,  stems,  and 
even  the  hands  of  the  company  were  cleansed 
at  the  beginning  of  the  ceremony.  On  either 
side  of  the  imaginary  trail  and  opposite  the 
Holy  fire  knelt  a  brave.  The  one  on  the  right, 
looking  east,  was  the  pipe-man,  and  the  other 
was  the  keeper  of  the  Holy  fire.  At  the  begin 
ning  of  the  ceremony  four  wooden  images  of 
men  were  set  at  the  head  of  the  imaginary  trail, 
at  the  west,  and  in  front  of  each  was  a  pipe,  its 

xvi 


FOREWORD 

bowl  resting  on  the  ground  in  the  trail,  its  stem 
supported  by  a  forked  stick  that  was  stuck  in 
the  ground.  In  front  of  the  pipes  toward  the 
fire  was  the  skull  of  a  buffalo-bull,  and  in  front 
of  that  the  claws  of  a  grizzly  bear.  Next,  in 
front  of  the  claws,  was  the  Holy  fire,  and  be 
tween  that  and  the  lodge-fire  were  two  stones 
touching  each  other,  one  representing  Big  Rock 
and  the  other  myself.  (I  asked  why  they  were 
there,  and  he  said  we  were  "One  like  the  other.") 
The  four  images,  collectively,  represent  Mani- 
tou.  They  also  represent  his  great  lieutenants 
—  his  "helpers/'  which  are  the  sun,  the  father, 
the  earth,  the  mother;  the  moon  and  the  stars, 
the  four  seasons;  and  the  north,  east,  south, 
and  west  winds. 

There  was  silence  for  a  few  minutes  now. 
No  one  moved,  but  all  gazed  at  the  Holy  fire. 
All  were  kneeling  in  Indian  fashion.  Then 
the  pipe-man  filled  a  pipe,  handed  him  by 
Big  Rock,  while  the  keeper  of  the  Holy  fire 
laid  sweet-grass  upon  the  coals.  When  the 

xvii 


FOREWORD 

smoke  of  the  sweet-grass  ascended,  the  pipe- 
man  lighted  the  pipe  and  gravely  passed  it 
to  Big  Rock.  Solemnly  the  old  warrior  rose 
to  his  knees  and  offering  the  stem  of  the  pipe 
to  the  sun,  prayed  for  life:  "Oh,  Father, 
make  us  to  pity  each  other/'  trembled  from 
his  lips  as  he  finished.  Then  he  turned  the 
pipe-stem  to  the  earth  and  his  prayer  was 
almost  the  same  as  that  offered  to  the  sun, 
only  he  addressed  himself  to  "Mother."  After 
these  invocations  the  pipe  was  proffered  to  the 
four  winds,  the  four  seasons  —  the  four  points 
of  the  compass,  and  there  was  little  variation 
in  any  of  the  prayers,  save  that  he  implored 
the  winds  to  be  kind.  Never  have  I  heard 
such  fervor  —  such  intense  feeling  as  his  voice 
expressed.  It  shook  with  reverence  and  awe. 
When  the  prayers  were  finished,  Big  Rock 
smoked,  inhaling  four  deep  draughts  from  the 
pipe;  when  he  passed  it  —  as  the  sun  goes  — 
about  the  lodge,  and  the  stem  was  always  care 
fully  pointed  toward  the  lodge- wall  in  its  pass- 

xviii 


FOREWORD 

ing.  With  these  people  the  pipe  may,  and  did, 
pass  the  doorway,  which  is  forbidden  by  the 
Blackfeet.  Each  of  the  four  pipes  were  sent 
around  the  lodge,  much  as  the  first  had  gone, 
save  that  when  the  last  one  was  taken  up,  Big 
Rock  addressed  the  "Three  Chief  Stars"  in 
prayer,  ere  he  passed  it  to  the  others.  If  a 
pipe  went  out  or  was  emptied,  it  was  returned 
by  the  same  route  it  had  travelled,  always  with 
care  that  the  stem  pointed  to  the  lodge-wall. 
It  came  back  to  the  hands  of  Big  Rock,  and  by 
him  was  handed  to  the  pipe-man,  when  it  was 
refilled,  lighted,  and  passed  back  to  begin  its 
round  where  it  had  left  off. 

I  have  asked  old  Indians  "what  becomes  of 
all  the  animals  that  have  been  slain  since  the 
world  began  ?"  and  I  have  had  them  face  the 
South  and  move  the  hands  in  a  circle,  as  the 
sun  goes,  leading  me  to  believe  that  "nothing  is 
destroyed,"  was  the  answer  intended.  The  In 
dian  is  intensely  religious  and  profoundly  super 
stitious;  but  the  reasons  for  some  of  his  most 

zix 


FOREWORD 

solemn  ceremonies  have  been  lost.  Even  the 
words  of  ancient  songs  are  lost,  and  he  uses 
words  he  cannot  define,  he  has  told  me. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  declare  that  the  Indian 
does  this  or  that.  Tribes  differ  materially  in 
customs,  and  while  I  have  been  led  to  believe 
that,  fundamentally,  their  religion  is  much  the 
same,  they  do  not  agree  in  all  particulars.  But, 
unlike  ourselves,  they  declare  each  man  to  be 
right  in  his  own  beliefs,  and  would  have  him 
hold  fast  to  them  without  intruding  their  own. 

FRANK  B.  LINDERMAN. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


QUO-TOO-QUAT I 

WHY  OUR  SIGHT  FAILS  WITH  AGE      ...  25 

WHY  CHILDREN  LOSE  THEIR  TEETH  ...  35 

How  THE  SKUNK  HELPED  THE  COYOTE   .     .  49 

WHY  THE  WEASEL  is  WHITE 57 

OLD-MAN  AND  His  NEW  WEAPONS     ...  69 

LOOKS  AT  THE  STARS Si 

CA-MEE-NO-WA-SIT 97 

STRIKES-AND-KILLS 105 

OLD-MAN'S  COURTING 123 

BILLY  BENT  AND  THE  ECHO  PEOPLE  .     .     .  133 

OLD-MAN  AND  THE  SUN-DANCE      ....  145 

WHY  THE  DOGS  HOWL  AT  NIGHT  .     .     .     .  155 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

BY  CHARLES  M.  RUSSELL 

"  'Brother/   said   Quo-too-Quat   to   the   Wolf, 

'have  you  seen  the  White  Buffalo  lately?'  "  Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGB 

"  'I  didn't  hear  you,  OW-man,'  said  the  Crane,  'this 

water  makes  a  lot  of  noise  where  I  am' ! "...      42 

"Then,  upon  turning  a  patch  of  willows  ...  he  saw 
the  Skunk  sucking  the  eggs  in  the  nest  of  a  Blue 
Grouse" 54 

"  'Look  over  there  by  that  fire.    That  is  Win-to-coo, 

the  Man-eater'" 66 

"OW-man  stood  up  so  the  Bear  could  see  him,  and 

laughed 'Ha,  ha,  ha'" 76 

"Ho,  a  Mighty  Person,  a  Terrible  Person,  stood  be 
fore  him"  88 

"  When  he  was  yet  far  from  the  Person  he  stopped,  for 

the  Person  had  held  up  his  hand  in  warning"  .     .     102 

"He  drove  his  knife  into  the  heart,  once,  twice,  three 

tunes,  four  times  " 120 


Also  the  illustrations  in  colors  on  the  cover  and  the  title-page , 
and  the  black-and-white  drawings  in  the  text. 


QUO-TOO-QUAT 


QUOTOO-QUAT 

WAR  EAGLE,  the  old  Medicine  Man,  sat 
in  his  great  painted  lodge  with  his 
grandchildren.  The  fire  had  burned  low,  and 
his  stern  face  was  softened  in  the  dim,  yellow 
light.  The  wind  rustled  in  the  rose  bushes 
nearby,  and  the  sound  of  the  waters  of  the 
Marias  —  the  River  That  Scolds  at  the  Other 
—  came  to  the  lodge  with  it.  The  night  was 
dark  and  the  stars  were  behind  heavy  clouds. 
War  Eagle  laid  aside  his  pipe. 

"Tell  us  a  story,  grandfather,"  said  Eyes-in- 
the-water.  "  Tell  us  of  OW-man.  We  like  to 
hear  about  him.  He  was  such  a  funny  person." 
And  she  laughed. 

War  Eagle  stirred  the  fire  until  it  burned 
brightly.  "Now  I  can  see  you  better.  My 
eyes  are  growing  old,"  he  said,  and  smiled. 

3 


INDIAN  OLZ>-MAN  STORIES 

"If  you  will  promise  to  go  to  your  beds  when 
I  have  finished,  I  will  tell  you  the  story  of 
Quo-too-quat,  the  Cripple." 

"We  promise/'  they  said. 

"That  is  good,"  said  War  Eagle.  "It  was 
long  ago  —  oh,  ever  so  long  ago  that  it  hap 
pened.  It  was  even  before  my  grandfather 
lived. 

"Two  girls  were  picking  flowers  in  the  forest. 
It  was  in  the  month  of  roses  and  the  day  was 
bright  with  sunshine.  The  girls  were  sisters 
and  were  both  beautiful.  Red  Wing  was  the 
older,  and  when  they  had  wandered  far  from 
the  camp,  she  said  to  her  sister:  'Let  us  go  on 
until  the  night  comes,  and  then  we  will  sleep 
in  the  silence,  just  you  and  I.  It  will  be  fine 
to  hear  the  night  birds  call  to  each  other,  and 
watch  the  Dark  creep  upon  the  world  from  its 
hiding  place.  I  know  its  den  must  be  near, 
for  it  runs  away  each  day  before  the  Sun  comes, 
and  as  soon  as  he  goes  to  his  lodge  in  the  West 
the  Dark  comes  back  again.  Let  us  stay  in 

4 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

the  forest  and  watch.  Perhaps  we  shall  learn 
where  the  Dark  hides  in  daytime/ 

"'I  am  afraid/  said  Laughs-in-the-morning. 
'I  am  afraid,  sister.  There  are  bears  and  gray 
wolves  in  the  forests.  Why  do  you  want  to 
do  such  a  thing?' 

'"I  have  told  you,  Laughs-in-the-morning. 
I  would  watch  the  Dark  creep  from  its  den.  I 
would  learn  its  secret/  said  Red  Wing.  'Do 
this  for  me.  Let  us  sleep  in  the  great  forest 
this  one  night/ 

"They  went  on,  picking  a  flower  here  and 
there,  until  the  Sun  had  gone.  Then  the  little 
Shadows  began  to  creep  out  of  the  bushes. 
'The  Dark  will  soon  be  here/  they  whispered 
before  they  went  away.  And  then  the  big 
Shadows  came  out  of  the  brush.  They  crept 
from  tree  to  tree  and  watched  Red  Wing  and 
Laughs-in-the-morning  make  their  bed  of 
boughs.  'The  Dark  is  coming/  they  said,  even 
louder  than  the  little  Shadows  had  spoken,  but 
the  girls  did  not  hear  them.  Before  they  knew 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

what  was  happening  the  Dark  had  come,  and 
so  silently,  so  cunningly  that  they  could  not 
even  tell  the  direction  from  which  it  came. 

"Soon  those  things  that  see  best  in  the  Dark 
began  to  travel  about  the  forest.  Most  of 
these  are  warlike  things  that  live  upon  those 
who  sleep  at  night  —  wolves  and  cougars  and 
foxes  and  owls.  Some  are  great,  while  others 
are  small,  but  all  live  by  killing  those  things 
that  work  and  walk  in  the  sunshine.  It  was 
always  so.  Bad  things  love  the  Dark. 

"Then,  finally,  the  Stars  came  and  looked 
down  at  Red  Wing  and  Laughs-in-the-morning. 
'Stars  are  beautiful/  said  Red  Wing.  'Would 
n't  it  be  wonderful  if  we  could  have  husbands 
that  were  like  the  stars.  Let  us  each  pick  out 
a  star  and  pretend  they  are  our  husbands.  I 
see  mine  now.  It  is  that  bright  one  just  over 
the  top  of  that  pine-tree/ 

"'And  mine  is  that  star  that  is  shining  and 
twinkling  over  the  dead  top  of  that  fir-tree/ 
said  Laughs-in-the-morning.  'I  am  going  to 

6 


INDIAN  OZ,Z>-MAN  STORIES 

call  him  Eagle.  I  think  that  is  a  beautiful 
name,  don't  you,  sister?' 

"'Yes,  I  do.  But  I  shall  call  my  husband 
Night  Sun,'  said  Red  Wing.  'Let  us  talk  to  our 
husbands  without  speaking  aloud/  And  they 
did. 

"Owls  called  in  the  forest,  and  wolves  came 
close  to  the  bed  of  boughs.  Once  a  red  fox 
walked  right  up  to  the  bed,  but  the  girls  did 
not  see  him.  He  looked,  and  then  went  away. 

"'Come  and  take  me  up  to  your  world, 
Eagle,'  said  Laughs-in-the-morning.  She  did 
not  speak  aloud,  but  she  looked  at  the  Star  and 
thought  the  words. 

"'Come  and  get  me,  Night  Sun,'  said  Red 
Wing  to  her  Star.  But  she  only  thought  the 
words,  which  is  the  same  as  speaking  them. 

"'Where  are  we,  sister?  What  is  this  bright 
light?'  It  was  Laughs-in-the-morning  that 
spoke.  'Oh,  where  are  we?' 

"Red  Wing  sat  up  and  covered  her  eyes  with 
her  hand.  The  light  was  brighter  than  the 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

Sun  and  was  all  about  them.  'I  do  not  know/ 
she  said.  'What  is  that?  —  Why,  it  is  an  old 
woman.  See,  she  is  watching  us.  Let  us  ask 
her  where  we  are.  Old  Woman,  tell  us  where 
we  are,  and  what  this  light  is  that  blinds 
us/ 

"The  Old  Woman  was  sitting  on  a  cloud 
nearby,  and  she  said:  'Young  women,  this  is 
not  your  country.  Some  Stars  have  brought 
you  here,  but  you  must  not  stay.  They  are  all 
sleeping  now,  but  will  soon  awake.  Come  with 
me.  I  will  help  you.  I  know  who  you  are.  I 
am  related  to  your  mother.  Those  Stars  must 
not  find  you  here.  Come/ 

"She  hopped  off  the  cloud  and  went  into  a 
lodge  that  was  near.  It  was  her  own  lodge; 
and  she  brought  out  a  rope  of  twisted  bark  and 
a  bag  that  had  been  made  of  the  white  skins  of 
some  strange  animals.  She  tied  one  end  of  the 
bark-rope  to  the  bag.  'Get  into  the  bag/  she 
said. 

"The  girls  did  as  she  told  them,  and  then  the 

8 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

the-morning.  'It  looks  like  a  lodge.  Let  us 
go  and  see/ 

"'I  am  so  tired,'  said  Red  Wing.  'You  go 
and  see  if  it  is  a  lodge,  and  I  will  wait  here  for 
you  to  come  back/ 

"But  Laughs-in-the-morning  did  not  come 
back.  She  grew  bewildered  and  could  not  find 
her  way.  Red  Wing  set  out  to  find  her,  but 
could  not.  They  were  separated,  and  they 
both  wandered  back  into  the  forest. 

"Laughs-in-the-morning  saw  a  man  coming 
through  the  bushes.  She  was  frightened.  The 
man  had  only  one  leg.  It  was  Quo-too-quat, 
the  Cripple.  She  had  heard  of  him.  He  was  a 
great  hunter.  Her  grandfather  had  told  her 
that.  Quo-too-quat  knew  magic,  and  so  she 
was  afraid  of  him.  He  began  to  laugh  as  he 
came  near,  and  Laughs-in-the-morning  cried. 

"'Tell  me  who  is  troubling  you  and  I  will 
kill  him/  said  Quo-too-quat,  the  Cripple.  His 
voice  was  rough,  but  his  eyes  looked  kind. 

"'My  sister  is  lost.  Oh,  I  cannot  find  her! 

10 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

Red  Wing  has  wandered  away,'  said  Laughs-in- 
the-morning. 

'"Ho !  Well  I  know  where  she  is,  of  course. 
Come,  and  I  will  take  you  to  her/ 

"He  began  to  hobble  away  through  the  forest. 
Laughs-in-the-morning  followed  as  fast  as  she 
could,  for  Quo-too-quat,  the  Cripple,  walked 
rapidly  with  a  magic  stick.  Laughs-in-the- 
morning  was  growing  tired  when  Quo-too-quat 
stopped  to  talk  to  a  gray  wolf  in  the  bushes. 

"'Brother/  said  Quo-too-quat  to  the  Wolf, 
'have  you  seen  the  White  Buffalo  lately?' 

"'Yes/  said  the  Wolf.  'They  are  near  the 
foot  of  the  Big  Mountains.  I  saw  them  yes 
terday.  There  are  many  buffalo  with  them 
that  are  not  white/ 

'"That  is  good/  said  Quo-too-quat,  'but  do 
not  chase  the  White  Buffalo.  Tell  your  people 
that  I  said  they  must  not  make  the  White  Buf 
falo  run.  Remember  that.  I  am  going  to 
take  this  girl  to  my  lodge.  Then  I  will  go  with 
you  to  the  Mountains.  Wait  here  for  me/ 

11 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"Laughs-in-the-morning  was  glad  when  she 
heard  Quo-too-quat  tell  the  Wolf  that,  because 
she  knew  that  the  lodge  could  not  be  far  away. 

"What  a  queer  lodge  it  was,  though !  It  was 
made  of  the  leaf  fat  of  buffalo,  and  every  lodge- 
pole  was  painted  yellow. 

"Red  Wing  was  sitting  on  some  robes  and 
sprang  up  when  Quo-too-quat  opened  the  door. 
'  Oh,  Laughs-in-the-morning !  I  am  so  happy  to 
see  you  again,  my  sister.  I  thought  you  would 
never,  never  come.  Here,  sit  here  and  eat. 
This  is  the  lodge  of  Quo-too-quat,  the  Cripple. 
He  brought  me  here  that  day  when  you  wan 
dered  away.  I  do  not  know  how  long  I  have 
been  here.  How  long  has  it  been  since  you 
left  me?' 

'"I  do  not  know,  sister/  said  Laughs-in-the- 
morning.  'This  is  not  our  country.  That 
Old  Woman  made  a  mistake,  I  fear.  What 
country  is  this,  Quo-too-quat?' 

"But  Quo-too-quat  was  gone. 

"'He  has  been  good  to  me,  sister/  said  Red 

12 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

Wing.  'There  is  always  plenty  of  meat  here, 
and  he  treats  me  well/ 

" '  I  wish  we  were  with  our  own  people,  sister,' 
said  Laughs-in-the-morning. 

"'Yes,  I  do,  too,  but  perhaps  he  will  take 
us  there  if  we  ask  him/ 

"'How !  How !'  said  a  squeaky  voice  at  the 
door.  Then  a  very  old  and  wrinkled  face 
peered  inside. 

"The  girls  screamed.    They  were  frightened. 

"'Ha,  ha,  ha!'  cackled  the  man  with  the 
wrinkled  face.  'Don't  you  know  me?  I  knew 
your  grandfather  and  his  father  and  even  your 
grandfather's  father.  Ha,  ha,  ha.  I  am  Old- 
man.  Don't  be  afraid  of  me.  Nobody  is  afraid 
of  me.  Ha,  ha,  ha.  What  is  that?'  He 
pointed  to  a  bone  whistle  that  hung  from  a 
lodge-pole  over  Red  Wing's  head. 

"'That/  said  Red  Wing,  'is  Quo-too-quat's 
Buffalo  Whistle.  Whenever  he  sits  on  a  big 
rock  and  blows  the  Whistle  four  times,  the 
buffalo  come/ 

13 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"'Oh,  yes.  Ha,  ha,  ha.  I  only  wanted  to 
see  if  you  knew.  That  is  the  way  I  do.  I  sit 
on  a  big  rock  and  blow  my  whistle  four  times 
and  the  buffalo  always  come.  Lots  of  them. 
Ha,  ha,  ha.  But  mine  is  a  better  whistle  than 
that  one.  Let  me  see  that  whistle/  He  took 
it  down  from  the  lodge-pole  and  said:  'I  guess 
I  could  make  this  old  thing  do.  Comb  your 
hair  and  make  yourselves  look  nice,  for  we  shall 
have  a  big  feast  when  I  come  back.  I  am  going 
to  kill  some  buffalo.  Ha,  ha,  ha/ 

"'Oh!'  cried  Red  Wing.  'Do  not  take  the 
Whistle  of  Quo-too-quat/ 

"'I  will  not  hurt  his  whistle.  I  only  want  to 
borrow  it.  I  shall  bring  it  back/  said  Old-man. 
And  he  went  away  with  the  Whistle  and  his 
bow  and  arrows. 

"After  he  had  gone  Laughs-in-the-morning 
said:  'We  had  better  comb  our  hair  as  he  told 
us.  I  am  afraid  of  Old-man.  He  does  wicked 
things  sometimes.  Let  us  comb  our  hair  right 
away/ 

14 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"'I  will  braid  your  hair,  sister,  if  you  will  do 
mine,'  said  Red  Wing. 

"'There!  He  cannot  complain  now/  said 
Laughs-in-the-moniing  when  they  had  finished. 

"0W-man  found  a  big  rock  and  sat  upon  it. 
Then  he  began  to  blow  Quo-too-quat's  Whistle. 
One-two-three-four.  One-two-three-four. 

"He  soon  heard  a  deep  rumbling  sound,  and 
the  ground  trembled  with  the  weight  of  many 
hoofs.  'Ho!'  said  Old-man.  'Ho!  there  are 
plenty  of  buffalo  coming.  Ha,  ha,  ha/  He 
heard  the  brush  crackling  and  saw  a  great  herd 
of  buffalo  tramping  toward  him.  There  were 
two  White  Buffalo  leading  the  others,  straight 
to  the  big  rock  where  OW-man  sat  blowing  Quo- 
too-quat's  Whistle.  When  the  White  Buffalo 
were  close  to  him,  Old-man  began  to  shoot  his 
arrows  at  them  as  fast  as  he  could;  but  the 
arrows  broke  in  pieces.  They  did  not  draw 
blood.  Their  sharp  points  broke,  and  the 
Buffalo  did  not  fall.  They  were  surprised  and 
angry  at  Old-man,  and  ran  away,  taking 

15 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

the  great  herd  with  them.  He  had  killed 
none. 

"'That  is  strange/  he  said.  'My  arrows  did 
not  go  through  the  skin  of  those  White  Bulls. 
I  wonder  why/ 

"He  had  lied  to  Red  Wing.  He  had  said 
that  he  knew  about  the  Buffalo  Whistle;  that 
he  had  one  like  it,  only  better.  He  had  no 
whistle  at  all.  He  had  never  heard  of  those 
White  Buffalo.  They  were  Medicine  Bulls, 
and  of  course  his  arrows  would  not  kill  them. 

"Quo-too-quat  heard  the  Whistle.  'Who  can 
be  blowing  my  Buffalo  Whistle?'  he  said  to  the 
Wolf. 

'"I  don't  know,  brother,  but  somebody  will 
make  trouble.  Those  White  Bulls  are  bad 
when  they  are  angry.  You  'd  better  go  and  see 
who  blew  that  Whistle/  replied  the  Gray  Wolf. 

"Quo-too-quat  ran;  for  his  magic  stick  helped 
him  to  travel  as  fast  as  other  men,  and  faster. 
When  he  got  to  his  lodge,  the  girls  were  gone. 

"The  White  Buffalo  had  carried  them  away 

16 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

—  the  Medicine  Bulls  had  stolen  them.  They 
were  angry  at  Quotoo-quat  for  lending  his 
Whistle  and  had  taken  the  girls  away. 

"Quo-too-quat  was  frightened.  He  did  not 
know  what  might  happen  to  Red  Wing  and 
Laughs-in-the-morning.  He  put  on  his  heavy 
moccasin  and  took  his  strongest  walking-stick. 
'I  shall  go  and  find  them  while  they  are  yet 
alive/  he  said.  'They  were  good  girls,  and  I 
am  sure  they  have  done  nothing  that  is  wrong/ 

"Just  as  he  raised  the  door  of  his  lodge  to  set 
out,  he  saw  Old-man  coming.  He  was  crying. 
He  knew  that  he  had  lied,  and  that  something 
had  happened  to  make  Quo-too-quat  angry. 

"'They  told  me  to  blow  on  your  Whistle/  he 
said,  'and  I  did  blow  it,  but  I  couldn't  kill  those 
White  Bulls.  My  arrows  broke,  and ' 

"'Oh/  said  Quo-too-quat,  'you  tried  to  kill 
the  Medicine  Bulls,  did  you?  They  are  friends 
of  mine.  Now  I'll  teach  you  manners.  Maybe 
you  will  tell  the  truth  and  mind  your  own 
business  after  this/ 

17 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"He  began  to  beat  Old-man's  legs  with  his 
bow.  'Ow —  oh  —  ow!'  cried  Old-man  as  he 
ran  through  the  woods.  But  Quo-too-quat  was 
close  at  his  heels  and  struck  him  many  times. 
'Oh  —  ow  —  oh!  That's  enough!  That's 
enough !  I  '11  remember.  Oh  —  ow  —  oh ! 
I  '11  tell  the  truth  and  mind  my  own  business, 
Quo-too-quat/ 

"Then  Quo-too-quat  left  him  and  turned  to 
look  for  the  trail  of  the  White  Buffalo.  He  was 
going  to  follow  it. 

"When  Old-man  got  far  enough  away  he 
called:  'I  'm  glad  I  did  that !  I  hope  you  never 
find  those  girls.  Ha,  ha,  ha!'  He  turned  and 
ran.  His  cackling  laugh  made  the  pine  squir 
rels  wonder,  and  the  Bluejay  said  to  the  Mag 
pie:  'That's  Old-man.  I  wonder  what  he's 
been  doing.' 

"'I  don't  know,'  said  the  Magpie.  'He's 
pretty  mean  —  meaner  than  I  am,  and  I  'm 
pretty  mean,  myself.' 

"Quo-too-quat  had  climbed  a  high  hill.    He 

18 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

had  left  the  trail  of  the  White  Buffalo  because 
he  expected  to  cut  them  off  by  crossing  the  high 
hill.  There  were  great  pine-trees  growing 
there,  and  near  one  of  them  he  saw  a  White 
Elk.  It  was  a  bull,  and  he  was  white  as  the 
snow.  All  those  things  that  are  white  when 
their  kind  is  of  a  different  color  are  Big  Medi 
cine.  Quo-too-quat  called  to  the  White  Elk. 

"The  White  Elk  came  to  him,  for  they  all 
knew  him.  He  was  a  Big  Medicine  Man. 

"'Have  you  seen  two  girls?  They  were  car 
ried  away  from  my  lodge  this  morning/  said 
Quo-too-quat  to  the  White  Elk. 

"'Yes,  I  know  where  they  come  to  get  water, 
too.  I  saw  them  a  little  while  ago.  There  are 
two  white  buffalo  bulls  with  them.  You  must 
be  careful.  Those  bulls  are  bad.  I  know  those 
bulls.  They  have  wicked  hearts/ 

"'Show  me  where  I  can  find  them,  brother/ 
said  Quo-too-quat.  'My  Medicine  is  strong. 
We  must  not  wait.  I  am  afraid  those  White 
Bulls  will  kill  the  girls/ 

19 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"'Follow  me/  said  the  White  Elk;  and  he 
led  Quo-too-quat  up  a  mountain  and  down  the 
other  side  without  once  speaking.  At  the 
bottom  he  stopped  to  listen. 

" '  Tap-tap-tap  —  tap-tap-tap-tap.'  A  wood 
pecker  was  hammering  upon  the  dead  trunk  of 
a  fir-tree. 

"'Stand  still,  Quo-too-quat.  Do  not  move 
or  speak.  I  '11  see  if  Woodpecker  knows  where 
those  girls  are  now.  If  he  sees  you,  he  will  fly 
away.' 

"Quo-too-quat  stood  very  still,  and  the  White 
Elk  walked  toward  the  Woodpecker,  pretend 
ing  to  be  feeding  on  the  grass  as  he  went  so  that 
Woodpecker  would  not  be  afraid.  When  he 
got  close  he  said: 

"'Woodpecker.' 

" '  Oh !  You  scared  me/  said  the  Woodpecker. 
'What  is  it  you  want?' 

"'Have  you  seen  two  girls  to-day?' 

"'Yes/  said  Woodpecker,  'but  don't  come 
any  closer.  I  'm  afraid  of  you.  Those  girls 

20 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

are  down  near  that  creek.  There  are  two 
White  Buffalo  Bulls  with  them.  Be  careful/ 
Then  he  climbed  higher  up  on  the  tree  and  be 
gan  again:  'Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap/  He  was 
minding  his  own  business. 

"The  White  Elk  called  to  Quo-too-quat  and 
told  him  what  Woodpecker  had  said.  'I'll 
wait  here,  Quo-too-quat.  I  can't  make  war  on 
those  White  Bulls.  Be  careful.  Those  Bulls 
are  wicked.  Take  your  time  and  get  very 
close/  he  warned. 

"Quo-too-quat  crept  to  the  creek  and  listened. 
The  water  made  a  noise  as  it  rippled  over  the 
stones,  so  he  moved  a  little  farther  from  the 
bank. 

"'Brrrrr,'  said  one  White  Bull  to  the  other. 
'Brrrrr,  let  us  kill  these  girls.  They  are  a 
nuisance  and  Quo-too-quat  lends  his  Whistle  to 
everybody/ 

"'Brrrr/  said  the  other  Bull.  'Brrrr,  I  am 
willing.  But  let  us  wait  until  the  night  comes/ 

"It  was  getting  dark  even  then.  Shadows 

21 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

were  coming  into  the  forest  so  Quo-too-quat 
knew  that  the  Night  was  near.  He  selected 
two  very  sharp  Medicine  arrows.  They  were 
painted  and  there  were  strange  marks  upon 
their  shafts.  Their  feathers  were  from  the  left 
wing  of  a  white  goose,  and  would  guide  them 
straight. 

"Then  Quo-too-quat  put  the  arrows  in  his 
mouth  and  walked  like  the  Bear-people  until 
he  came  close  to  the  camp  of  the  White  Bulls. 
They  were  sitting  near  their  fire.  Laughs-in- 
the-morning  was  crying,  and  Red  Wing  was 
trying  to  comfort  her.  The  wicked  White 
Bulls  were  laughing  at  them,  when  Zip ! —  Zip ! 
went  the  two  Medicine  arrows  from  Quo-too- 
quat's  bow. 

"'Oh!'  said  both  the  White  Bulls  as  they 
sank  to  their  knees  near  the  fire. 

"Quo-too-quat  ran  to  them  and  pushed  the 
arrows  deeper  into  their  wicked  hearts  with 
his  hands.  Then  they  died. 

"'Come,  let  us  go  to  my  lodge/  said  Quo- 

22 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

too-quat  to  the  girls.  'You  can  never  go 
back  to  your  own  country  now.  It  is  too 
far  away.  Besides,  your  people  have  moved 
camp/  Ho!" 


23 


WHY  OUR  SIGHT  FAILS  WITH  AGE 


WHY  OUR  SIGHT  FAILS  WITH' AGE 

f^lHICKADEE'-DEE-DEE-DEE.  Chicka- 
^^  dee-dee-dee-dee. 

"Oh,  he  almost  came  inside  the  lodge,  grand 
father!"  cried  Bluebird,  as  a  chickadee  flew  to 
a  bush  near  the  door.  "I  like  the  chickadees. 
They  are  always  so  friendly  and  happy.  I  pre 
tend  they  are  laughing  when  they  are  in  the 
willows  and  rosebushes.  They  do  seem  to  be 
laughing,  don't  they,  grandfather?" 

"Yes,"  said  War  Eagle.  "That  is  what 
OW-man  thought  one  day  long  ago.  It  made 
trouble  for  us  all,  too  —  bad  trouble  that  visits 
us  if  we  live  to  be  old." 

"Tell  us  the  story,  grandfather!"  cried  Buf 
falo-Calf.  "We  will  help  grandmother  gather 
dry  wood  if  you  will  tell  us  about  Old-man." 

"That  is  good.    I  will  tell  you,"  said  War 

27 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

Eagle.  "  It  was  in  the  forest  where  great  trees 
grew,  and  where  many  bushes  and  vines  cov 
ered  the  ground  about  them.  Old-man  was 
alone.  He  had  seen  no  people  since  morning, 
and  the  Sim  wac  already  looking  toward  his 
lodge  ia  the  W>SL  *  Listen/  he  said;  but  he 
was  only  talking  to  himself.  'Listen/  He 
bent  and  placed  his  hand  behind  his  ear,  that 
he  might  hear  better.  Ha!  somebody  was 
laughing  among  the  trees  and  bushes.  It  was 
not  loud  laughing,  but  the  Person  was  having  a 
good  time  all  by  himself,  whoever  it  was. 

"'That  is  funny  —  so  much  laughing,'  said 
Old-man.  'I'll  go  and  see  who  it  is  that 
laughs.  I  'd  like  to  laugh,  myself,  if  I  could 
find  something  funny.  I  have  looked,  too,  and 
there  is  nothing  to  laugh  at/ 

"He  hurried  toward  the  sound  of  laughing, 
making  so  much  noise  in  his  travelling  that  he 
could  not  hear  the  Person  laugh.  He  stopped 
and  listened.  Ho!  it  was  gone.  The  Person 
had  moved.  Old-man  stood  very  still  for  a 

28 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

while,  and  then  he  heard  the  laughing  again, 
but  it  was  far  away. 

"'That  is  strange,'  he  said.  'That  Person 
seems  to  find  something  that  makes  him  happy 
wherever  he  goes.  He  was  here  and  laughed, 
but  I  can  see  nothing  to  laugh  at.  Now  he  is 
over  near  that  big  tree  and  is  laughing  again. 
I  must  find  that  Person.' 

"He  hurried  onward.  He  even  ran;  but 
twice  the  Person  moved  with  his  laugh  before 
he  came  close  to  a  small  tree  with  thick  leaves 
upon  its  branches. 

" '  Chickadee-dee-dee-dee.  Chickadee-dee- 
dee-dee.'  Ho !  it  was  the  Chickadee  laughing. 

"'What  are  you  laughing  at?'  asked  Old- 
man.  'I've  travelled  hard  all  this  day  and 
haven't  seen  a  funny  thing.' 

"'That  makes  me  laugh,'  said  the  Chickadee. 
And  he  did  laugh.  'Chickadee-dee-dee-dee !' 

"'Are  you  laughing  at  me?'  cried  Old-man. 

" ' No.  Oh,  no  —  not  exactly,'  said  the  Chick 
adee.  'But  if  a  Person  cannot  get  along  with 

29 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

himself,  how  can  he  laugh  ?  Laugh  is  a  prisoner 
with  a  cross  person/ 

" '  What  were  you  laughing  at  before  I  came?' 
asked  Old-man. 

"'Watch  me/  said  the  Chickadee. 

"Then  he  took  out  his  eyes  and  tossed  them 
away  up  among  the  branches.  The  Chickadee 
sat  very  still  and  waited  for  them  to  come  down 
again.  The  eyes  came  straight  back  and 
landed  plump!  in  their  places,  as  if  they  had 
not  been  away.  'Chickadee-dee-dee-deeF  He 
was  laughing  again,  and  that  made  Old-man. 
laugh,  too. 

" '  Ha,  ha,  ha !    That  is  funny.    Do  it  again/ 

"'All  right.    Watch  me/  said  the  Chickadee. 

"Up  went  his  eyes  a  second  time,  and  down 
they  came  plump !  into  their  places.  And  the 
Chickadee  laughed  again. 

"'Ha-ha,  ha!  ha,  ha,  ha!  That  is  funny. 
Show  me  how  to  do  it,  Chickadee/  said  Old-man. 

"'Oh,  no  — no/  said  the  Chickadee.  'You 
cannot  do  it.  You  are  too  clumsy.  You  can 

30 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

do  nothing  well,  and  in  trying  you  might  get 
into  trouble/ 

"' Please,  brother/  begged  OW-man.  'Tell 
me  the  secret.  I  will  be  careful.  I  made  you, 
and  you  should  be  good  to  me.' 

"'Yes/  said  the  Chickadee,  'you  made  me, 
but  you  made  a  lot  of  enemies  for  me,  too.  I 
have  more  than  anybody,  and  they  are  every 
where.  No,  this  is  my  secret.  You  would 
blame  me  if  you  tried  it  and  got  into  trouble/ 

'"No,  I  will  never  blame  you,  brother.  Tell 
me  the  secret  and  I  will  give  you  my  necklace. 
See,  it  is  very  handsome/ 

"The  Chickadee  looked  at  the  necklace  and 
became  proud.  He  wanted  to  wear  it.  He 
thought  it  would  make  him  more  beautiful,  so 
he  said:  'All  right,  I  '11  tell  you  the  secret. 
Then  you  must  look  out  for  yourself.  I  don't 
do -this  thing  very  often,  myself,  and  I  'm  not 
clumsy  as  you  are.  You  take  out  your  eyes 
and  throw  them  as  high  as  you  want  them  to 
go.  They  will  always  come  straight  back  to 

31 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

their  places  if  you  do  not  move,  nor  laugh,  nor 
even  breathe  while  they  are  away.  If  you  do 
any  of  these  things,  your  eyes  will  be  lost.  Re 
member  that.  I  have  told  you  what  not  to  do, 
and  if  you  forget  you  will  have  to  pay  for  it. 
That  is  all  there  is  to  the  secret.  Now  give  me 
that  necklace/ 

"OW-man  took  off  his  necklace  and  gave  it 
to  the  Chickadee.  Then  he  cried:  'Watch  me/ 
He  took  out  his  eyes  and  tossed  them  far  up 
among  the  trees.  He  stood  still  —  did  not 
laugh  —  did  not  move  —  did  not  even  breathe. 
Plump !  the  eyes  came  back  to  their  places  as 
the  Chickadee  had  said  they  would.  Old-man. 
laughed,  and  the  Chickadee  laughed  with  him. 

"'Good-by,  my  brother.  I  shall  have  some 
thing  to  laugh  at  now/  said  Old-man.  And  he 
went  away  in  the  forest. 

"He  tried  the  Chickadee's  trick  over  and 
over,  laughing  each  time,  and  each  time-tossing 
his  eyes  higher,  until  at  last  he  grew  careless. 
Ho !  he  moved  his  head.  He  laughed.  He  even 

32 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

breathed  before  his  eyes  came  back.  He  was 
standing  in  a  thickly  timbered  spot  when  he 
tossed  his  eyes  upward.  They  were  gone  a 
long  time.  He  was  all  ready  to  laugh,  and 
couldn't  wait.  He  heard  something  strike  the 
ground  near  him.  Then  he  was  frightened.  He 
was  blind.  He  had  no  eyes.  They  had  fallen 
on  the  ground  among  the  dead  leaves  and  dirt. 
Ho !  Old-man  was  in  trouble.  Now  he  did  not 
laugh.  He  cried.  Yes,  he  cried.  Oh  ho !  now 
he  was  sorry  that  he  had  met  the  Chickadee. 
He  got  down  on  his  hands  and  knees  and  began 
to  feel  about  for  his  eyes  as  one  feels  for  things 
in  the  dark.  Once  he  touched  a  snail  and 
thought  it  was  one  of  his  eyes. 

"Then  at  last  he  found  his  eyes  in  the  dirt 
and  leaves  where  they  had  fallen.  He  put  them 
back  in  their  places,  but  they  hurt  him  because 
of  the  dirt  that  had  clung  to  them  while  they 
were  upon  the  ground.  He  never  got  over  it. 
No.  He  could  never  see  so  well  as  he  had  be 
fore  he  did  that  foolish  thing. 

33 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"Of  course  he  made  us  all  pay  for  his  trouble. 
He  always  does.  When  he  knew  his  eyes  would 
never  be  so  good  as  they  were  before  he  met  the 
Chickadee  that  day,  he  said: 

"'After  this  there  shall  come  a  time  in  the 
lives  of  old  people  when  their  eyes  shall  not  be 
very  useful.  They  shall  bother  them  before 
they  die,  as  my  eyes  bother  me/  It  has  been 
true  from  that  day  to  this. 

"The  Chickadee  and  all  his  children  wear 
0W-man's  necklace  since  that  day,  and  you 
have  seen  it  about  their  necks,  of  course.  The 
necklace  is  too  heavy  for  a  bird  so  small  as  the 
Chickadee,  and  its  weight  keeps  him  from  fly 
ing  very  high  in  the  air.  He  always  stays  near 
the  ground  in  the  bushes  or  small  trees  because 
of  the  heavy  necklace  that  Old-man  gave  him 
that  day  in  the  forest.  Ho!" 


34 


WHY  CHILDREN  LOSE  THEIR  TEETH 


WHY  CHILDREN  LOSE  THEIR  TEETH 

fTlHE  fire  in  War  Eagle's  lodge  was  burning 
-••  brightly  when  the  children  entered. 

There  was  an  air  of  mystery  among  them  as 
they  seated  themselves  about  the  cheerful  blaze. 

"What  would  you  tell  me?  I  know  you 
have  something  to  say  by  looking  at  your  faces. 
I  have  finished  my  smoking.  You  may  speak/' 
he  said. 

Eyes-in-the-water  arose  and  stepping  to  her 
grandfather's  side  she  thrust  forth  her  little 
hand,  which,  upon  reaching  its  arm's  length 
suddenly  opened,  exposing  a  tiny  tooth.  "See, 
grandfather.  See,  I  have  lost  a  tooth.  It 
came  out  of  my  mouth." 

There  was  awe  in  the  eyes  of  the  children  as 
gravely  the  old  warrior  took  the  tooth  from  his 
granddaughter's  hand  and  smiled. 

"Six  snows  have  passed,"  he  said.    "It  does 

37 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

not  seem  so  long  as  that  since  you  came  to  live 
on  this  world,  Eyes-in-the-water.  But  it  must 
be  so — six  snows." 

"It's  almost  seven  snows,  grandfather,"  de 
clared  Muskrat;  "for  I  am  nearly  nine,  now." 

"And  did  not  your  teeth  fall  out,  young  war 
rior?"  asked  War  Eagle. 

"Yes,  but  I  was  not  frightened,"  said  the 
boy.  "Everybody  loses  his  teeth,  does'nt  he, 
grandfather?" 

"Yes,"  he  said.  "Oh,  yes,  and  it  is  all  be 
cause  of  Old-man.  All  because  he  was  greedy 
and  dishonest,  but  we  have  paid  for  it  all.  All 
the  people  have  paid,  and  will  pay,  as  long  as 
there  are  people." 

"Tell  us  about  it,  grandfather,"  begged  the 
children. 

"Put  two  sticks  upon  the  fire,  Muskrat,  and 
I  will  tell  you  how  it  came  about.  Of  course  it 
was  long  ago,  and  in  the  fall  when  the  leaves 
of  the  cottonwoods  were  yellow  along  the 
streams.  There  was  not  a  cloud  in  the  sky,  and 

38 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

the  wind  had  not  visited  the  plains  for  days. 
One  could  see  an  object  a  long  distance  upon 
the  ground  or  in  the  air,  for  the  days  were  clear 
in  the  bright  sunshine.  It  was  one  of  those 
days  when  echoes  sleep  lightly  and  are  easily 
disturbed  by  travellers. 

"OW-man  was  walking  toward  a  hilltop  on 
the  plains  when  he  saw  a  Crane  flying  over  the 
land.  'That  bird  is  going  toward  water,  I 
know/  said  OW-man,  for  he  talks  much  to  him 
self.  '  I  '11  watch  the  Crane  and  see  where  he 
goes.  That  is  what  I  will  do/ 

"The  Crane  flew  on  until  he  seemed  but  a 
speck  in  the  air.  Then  he  suddenly  dropped 
from  sight.  He  was  gone. 

" 'That  is  funny/  said  Old-man.  'I  can't  see 
any  water  where  the  Crane  came  to  the  ground, 
but  I  will  go  and  see.  That  is  a  wise  Person, 
and  perhaps  I  shall  learn  something  new/ 

"He  walked  fast  and  at  last  came  to  a  river. 
It  was  not  a  large  stream,  but  it  was  very 
crooked  and  made  great  bends  as  it  flowed 

39 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

through  the  land.  The  ground  was  deeply  Cut 
by  the  water,  and  the  river  banks  were  high, 
and  sometimes  steep;  but  trees  grew  along  the 
stream  under  the  banks  in  little  meadow-places 
that  were  pretty  to  look  upon. 

"Old-man  looked  for  the  Crane  but  could  not 
see  him.  The  water  rippled  over  sand-bars,  and 
was  shallow  in  some  places  and  deep  in  others, 
like  most  of  the  rivers  that  flow  through  the 
plains,  but  the  Crane  was  not  in  sight.  He 
called:  'Hey,  you  Crane-person!  Where  are 
you?'  Echoes  answered  him,  and  his  own 
voice  came  back  from  the  banks  of  the  stream 
and  seemed  to  mock  him.  That  made  Old- 
man  angry.  'Hey,  you  Crane-bird!'  called 
OW-man,  and  'Hey,  you  Crane-bird !'  the  echoes 
answered.  'I  want  to  talk  to  you,  Crane/ 
yelled  Old-man,  and  'I  want  to  talk  to  you/ 
yelled  the  echoes.  Ho !  he  was  growing  angrier 
at  every  call  because  the  echoes  mocked  him. 
'Don't  talk  to  me,  you  Echo-people/  he  roared, 
and  'Don't  talk  to  me,  you  Echo-people/  came 

40 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

back  to  him  from  the  banks  and  among  the 
trees.  'I  '11  stop  talking,  myself/  he  said,  and 
no  words  came  back  to  him,  for  he  had  not 
spoken  them  loudly  as  he  had  the  others.  On 
he  went  down  the  stream  when,  turning  a  bend 
in  the  river,  he  saw  the  Crane  on  the  far  side 
near  the  bank.  The  bird  was  wading  in  the 
shallow  water  and  looking  for  something  to  eat. 

"'Say,  you;  why  don't  you  answer  when  you 
hear  a  Person  call.  When  I  call  People  I  want 
them  to  answer  me.  I  guess  I  know  what  I 
want/ 

"'I  didn't  hear  you,  0/rf-man/  said  the  Crane. 
'This  water  makes  a  lot  of  noise  where  I  am/ 

"'What  are  you  doing  here,  anyhow?'  asked 
OW-man. 

'"I'm  minding  my  own  business/  said  the 
Crane.  'What  are  you  doing  here,  yourself?' 

" '  I  'm  looking  for  something  to  eat,  of  course ! 
Don't  be  so  cross/ 

"'That's  my  business  here,  too/  said  the 
Crane,  'and  I'm  not  cross.  I — there!  You 

41 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

made  me  lose  a  big  fish  with  your  talking.  Why 
do  you  talk  so  much  ? ' 

"'Ha,  ha,  ha/  laughed  OW-man.  'It  serves 
you  right  for  not  answering  me  when  I  called 
you.  I  hope  you  don't  catch  a  fish  all  day. 
Not  even  a  frog.  Ha,  ha,  ha  —  ha,  ha,  ha. 
Good-by.' 

"He  left  the  Crane  and  went  on  down  the 
river,  which  turned  and  twisted  so  suddenly 
that  sometimes  the  sun  would  be  looking  upon 
his  face,  and  at  other  times  it  shone  upon  his 
back.  Sometimes  the  river  crossed  great 
stretches  where  there  were  no  trees  at  all,  but 
at  other  times  it  ran  through  groves  of  cotton- 
woods.  Its  course  was  most  crooked  in  these 
places.  The  water  liked  the  shade  of  the  trees, 
and  stayed  as  long  as  it  could  without  stopping 
altogether.  Often  it  was  but  a  little  way  across 
the  bends  by  land,  and  ever  so  far  by  the  water's 
route.  You  have  seen  rivers  that  were  like 
that.  By  walking  across  the  necks  of  land  a 
man  can  reach  a  point  down  the  stream  quicker 

42 


I  didn't  hear  you,  Old-Man,'  said  the  Crane.     'This  water  makes  a 
lot  of  noise  where  I  am ! ' " 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

than  the  water  can.  Yes,  and  much  quicker 
than  anything  that  is  floating  on  the  water. 
Old-man  knew  all  about  that,  of  course,  for  he 
made  the  rivers  —  made  them  straight  in  some 
places,  but  crooked  in  others. 

"In  one  of  the  bends  of  the  river  Old-man 
saw  something  floating  on  the  water.  Whatever 
it  was  bobbed  along  over  the  ripples,  stopped, 
and  often  turned  around  in  the  eddies,  but  after 
a  while  it  always  went  with  the  water.  It  was 
round.  It  was  almost  white,  and  it  floated 
well  and  lightly. 

"' That's  Back-fat/  said  Old-man.  'I  am 
sure  it  is  Back-fat.  It  looks  fresh  and  fine. 
Yes,  I  know  it  is  Back-fat.  Hey,  you  Ball- 
thing,'  he  cried,  'come  in  here.  Come  closer 
to  me.  I  want  to  talk  to  you/ 

"The  river  brought  it  nearer  and  nearer  until 
finally  it  was  near  the  shore,  and  Old-man 
reached  and  picked  it  from  the  water.  It  felt 
like  Back-fat  in  his  fingers,  and  its  color  was 
the  same  as  that  of  Fat,  but  he  was  not 

43 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

sure;  so  he  asked:  'What's  your  name,  Ball- 
thing?' 

"'You  made  me,  yourself,  and  you  should 
know  my  name  without  asking  me'  replied  the 
Ball-thing. 

"'Yes,  I  did  make  you/  said  OW-man,  'but 
everything  on  this  world  has  two  names;  so  tell 
me  your  name/ 

'"My  name  is  One-bite/  said  the  Ball-thing. 

'"Ha!  — Well,  I'm  hungry/  said  Old-man, 
and  took  one  big  bite  from  the  Ball-thing,  for 
he  was  sure  that  it  was  Back-fat.  Then  he 
tossed  the  Ball-thing  back  into  the  water,  and 
it  began  its  journey  down  the  stream  at  once. 

"But  the  bite  tasted  good.  'Good-by,  Ball- 
thing/  cried  Old-man.  But  just  as  the  Ball- 
thing  went  around  a  bend  in  the  river,  he  ran 
like  a  deer  across  a  neck  of  land  and  so  came  to 
the  water  again  and  far  below  the  Ball-thing 
that  had  to  go  the  way  of  the  stream.  When 
he  reached  the  river  he  waited,  for  he  knew  the 
water  would  bring  the  Ball-thing  and,  of  course, 

44 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

it  did.  As  soon  as  it  came  into  view  OW-man 
called:  'Hey,  you  Ball-thing.  Come  closer.  I 
want  to  talk  to  you/ 

"The  Ball-thing  came  close  to  the  shore  with 
the  water,  and  OW-man  grabbed  it.  'What's 
your  name,  Ball-thing?'  he  asked  as  though 
he  had  never  seen  it  before. 

"'You  made  me,  and  you  should  know  my 
name  without  asking  me'  said  the  Ball-thing. 

'"Yes,  I  guess  I  did  make  you,  but  everything 
on  this  world  has  two  names,  so  tell  your  name/ 

"'My  name  is  One-bite/  said  the  Ball-thing, 
and  Old-man  took  another  and  larger  bite.  He 
wanted  to  eat  it  all,  but  he  was  afraid  because 
of  the  Ball-thing's  name,  you  see.  So  he  threw 
it  back  into  the  stream.  As  soon  as  it  struck 
the  water  Old-man  ran  across  another  bend  and 
waited  for  the  Ball-thing  to  come  along  that 
way.  He  was  laughing  now  and  talking  to  him 
self.  'Ha,  ha,  ha  —  Oh  —  Ho !  I  '11  eat  it  all 
—  one  bite  at  a  time,  if  this  river  stays  crooked 
enough/  The  Ball-thing  nearly  passed  him 

45 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

before  he  saw  it  that  time;  he  was  so  merry  that 
his  eyes  were  filled  with  tears  —  laugh-tears. 
The  Ball-thing  was  a  little  way  past  him  when 
he  saw  it,  and  he  was  obliged  to  run  to  catch 
up,  but  he  called  to  it  and  it  came  to  the  shore 
as  it  had  done  before.  He  asked  the  same 
questions,  and  the  Ball-thing  answered  as  it 
had  done  twice  before.  OW-man  bit  again. 
He  had  taken  three  bites  now,  and  he  threw  the 
Ball-thing  back  upon  the  water,  but  there  wasn't 
much  left  of  it — not  much.  Of  course  he  ran 
away  to  meet  the  Ball-thing  again,  and  to  bite 
it  again,  but  something  had  happened.  Ho! 
something  queer  had  happened  to  the  Ball- 
thing  —  something  that  Old-man  did  not  know 
about.  The  Ball-thing  had  changed  itself  into 
a  stone  that  floats.  Its  color  was  the  same. 
Its  shape  was  as  before,  so  that  Old-man  did  not 
know  there  had  been  a  change. 

"Very  soon  the  water  brought  the  Ball-thing 
around  the  bend  where  Old-man  waited,  and 
he  called:  'Hey,  you  Ball-thing,  come  in  here. 

46 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

I  want  to  talk  to  you/  and  it  came,  of  course. 
'What 's  your  name,  Ball-thing?'  he  asked. 

"'You  made  me  and  you  should  know  my 
name  without  asking  me,'  said  the  Ball- thing. 

"'Yes,  I  know  I  made  you,  but  everything  on 
this  world  has  two  names;  so  tell  me  your  name/ 

'"One-bite/  said  the  Ball-thing,  and  SWOW! 
OW-man  bit  the  Ball-thing  that  had  turned  to 
stone  that  floats.  Oh,  Ho!  — Oh,  Ho!  — all 
those  teeth  that  grow  in  front  were  broken  off 
at  the  gums,  and  he  spat  them  into  his  left 
hand.  Blood  was  running  from  his  mouth, 
and  tears  were  in  his  eyes.  Oh,  Ho !  —  Oh, 
Ho !  —  now  there  was  no  laughing.  'That  was 
a  mean  trick  you  played,  Ball-thing.  That  was 
wrong.  You  are  wicked.  You  should  not  treat 
me  so.  I  made  you,  and  you  have  hurt  me  and 
hurt  all  the  other  people  of  my  kind,  too,  for 
from  this  day  onward  — EVERY  CHILD 
THAT  LIVES  SHALL  LOSE  ITS  TEETH 
WHEN  SIX  SNOWS  HAVE  PASSED  ITS 
HEAD/ 

47 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"Then  he  threw  the  Ball-thing  back  into  the 
river  and  sat  down  upon  a  log  and  cried  over 
his  broken  teeth  like  an  old  woman.  That  is 
why  our  children  lose  their  teeth.  It  is  just  as 
OW-man  said  it  would  be;  and  it  was  because 
the  Ball-thing  made  a  fool  of  him.  Ho!" 


48 


HOW  THE  SKUNK  HELPED  THE 
COYOTE 


HOW  THE  SKUNK  HELPED  THE 
COYOTE 

,  grandfather,"  cried  Muskrat,  as  the 
children  came  to  War  Eagle's  lodge; 
"oh,  grandfather,  we  found  a  spring  of  cold 
water  just  over  that  hill,  and  it  tastes  bad  and 
smells  awful !" 

"Yes,  I  know  about  that  spring,"  said  War 
Eagle.  "  I  will  tell  you  about  it. 

"Once,  long  ago,  a  Coyote  and  his  Wife  lived 
in  that  cave  that  is  back  of  that  spring,  and  the 
water  was  sweet.  The  Coyote  was  a  good 
hunter,  and  his  Wife  was  happy  and  fat.  They 
had  many  children,  and  these  went  away  to 
find  their  own  homes  and  wives  and  children, 
leaving  their  father  and  mother  in  the  cave 
back  of  the  spring.  There  was  no  other  place 
so  nice  to  live  in  as  the  Coyote's  home,  and  that 
made  some  people  jealous. 

51 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"The  snows  passed  and  the  grass  came  many 
times  while  the  Coyote  and  his  Wife  lived  in 
the  cave  near  that  spring,  but  one  day  the 
Wolf  passed  that  way  and  saw  how  happy  and 
comfortable  they  were.  The  Wolf  did  not  like 
to  see  his  small  Cousin  so  well-off,  and  he  tried 
to  trade  his  home  for  the  Coyote's  cave. 

"'No/  said  the  Coyote.  'My  Wife  and  I 
are  happy  here.  We  have  had  many  children, 
and  still  have  some  little  ones  to  look  after. 
We  will  not  trade.  We  will  stay  where  we  are/ 

" '  You  will,  will  you  ?'  said  the  Wolf.  '  Well, 
you  won't.  I  want  that  cave,  and,  besides  that, 
My  Wife  wants  it,  so  you  '11  have  to  get  out/ 

"'No,  I  won't/  said  the  Coyote.  'I  won't 
move.  I  've  been  here  a  long  time.  My  father 
owned  this  cave  before  me,  and  it  has  always 
been  owned  by  my  family.  You  must  hunt  for 
another  place.  You  can't  have  this  cave/ 

"  When  the  Coyote  said  that,  the  Wolf  grabbed 
him.  There  was  a  terrible  battle.  The  ground 
was  scratched,  and  hair  was  all  over  the  place, 

52 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

but  the  Wolf  won,  of  course.  The  Coyote  was 
crippled.  He  never  got  well.  He  always 
limped  after  that  fight.  He  had  to  leave  the 
cave,  and  he  was  old — lots  older  than  his 
Wife. 

"At  last  he  found  a  new  home  and  com 
menced  to  hunt  for  food  for  his  family.  He 
met  the  Fox  on  a  hillside,  and  the  Fox  said: 
'What  are  you  doing  so  far  from  your  lodge?' 

"'I'm  not  far  from  my  lodge,  brother.  I 
have  moved.  The  Wolf  has  stolen  my  cave. 
I  fought  him  as  hard  as  I  could.  I  guess  I  '11 
never  get  well  again.  I  live  on  top  of  this  hill, 
now.' 

"  'That 's  too  bad/  said  the  Fox.  'The  Wolf 
is  a  mean  Person.' 

" '  Yes,'  said  the  Coyote,  'he  is  mean,  but  some 
day  I  '11  get  even  with  him.' 

"'I  hope  so,'  said  the  Fox.  'I  hope  so. 
Well,  I  have  to  be  going.  Rabbits  are  scarce, 
aren't  they?  Good-by.' 

"When  the  Fox  had  gone  the  Coyote  began 

53 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

to  think  hard.  It  brought  his  mind  back  to 
his  trouble  —  his  talk  with  the  Fox  —  and  he 
thought  hard.  'I  Ve  got  to  get  help.  The 
Wolf  is  too  many  for  me,  alone/  he  said  to 
himself. 

"Just  then  a  Rabbit  ran  down  the  hill,  and  he 
chased  him  into  a  hole  in  the  ground.  He  began 
to  dig  him  out  when,  WHEW !  an  awful  smell 
came  to  him  on  the  wind.  'Ho !'  he  said,  'that 
Skunk  Person  can  make  even  the  winds  smell 
bad/  Then  he  stopped  digging  and  his  cunning 
eyes  were  half-closed  with  thinking.  'Ho!'  he 
cried,  'why  didn't  I  think  of  that  before?' 

"He  left  the  Rabbit  in  his  hole  and  set  out 
with  his  keen  nose  to  the  wind  that  brought  the 
smell  of  the  Skunk  Person  to  him.  Carefully  he 
travelled  through  the  weeds  and  tall  grass  till 
his  smart  nose  told  him  to  go  slowly  and  be  very 
gentle.  Then,  upon  turning  a  patch  of  willows 
that  grew  on  the  bank  of  a  creek,  he  saw  the 
Skunk  sucking  the  eggs  in  the  nest  of  a  Blue 
Grouse. 

54 


"Then,  upon   turning   a   patch   of   willows  ...  he   saw  the  Skunk 
sucking  the  eggs  in  the  nest  of  a  Blue  Grouse." 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"'How,  brother/  he  said. 

"'How  — How/  said  the  Skunk  Person. 
'Don't  you  come  too  close  to  me  or  I  '11  fix  you 
so  your  own  wife  won't  live  with  you.  Re 
member  that.  These  eggs  are  mine.  I  found 
them,  so  stay  where  you  are.  I  don't  want 
any  trouble  with  anybody,  myself.' 

"'Neither  do  I,  brother/  said  the  Coyote. 
'I  have  been  looking  for  you.  I  want  you  to 
help  me.  I  have  a  favor  to  ask,  and  I  '11  be 
good  to  you  if  you  grant  it/ 

"Then  he  told  the  Skunk  what  the  Wolf  had 
done  —  told  him  how  long  he  had  lived  in  the 
cave  back  of  that  spring,  and  showed  him  his 
crippled  leg  as  proof  of  the  fight.  '  If  you  will 
help  me,  brother,  whenever  I  kill  a  deer,  you 
may  eat  all  you  can  hold,  and  I  will  not  quarrel 
with  you  or  your  children/ 

'"I  don't  see  how  I  can  help  you.  You  are 
stronger  than  I  am.  I  can't  fight  the  Wolf  if 
you  can't.  How  can  I  help  you,  I  'd  like  to 
know  ?  I  can't  fight  that  Wolf/ 

55 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 


ttt 


:No,'  said  the  Coyote,  'but  you  can  spoil 
that  water  in  that  spring.  You  can  make  the 
whole  place  smell  so  bad  that  the  Wolf  can't 
live  there.  I  guess  I  know  how  bad  you  can 
make  things  smell.  Everybody  does.  Will  you 
fix  that  water  so  the  Wolf  and  his  Wife  will 
have  to  move?  Will  you  do  it  ?' 

"'Yes/  said  the  Skunk,  and  he  did  do  it. 

"The  Wolf  had  to  leave.  Nobody  can  stay 
there  since.  Nobody  can  drink  that  water. 
Nobody  wants  to  try.  Ho  1" 


56 


WHY  THE  WEASEL  IS  WHITE 


WHY  THE  WEASEL  IS  WHITE 

<<rpO-NIGHT    I    will    tell    you   why   the 
•*•    Weasel  is  white  in  winter,"  said  War 
Eagle.    "Put  two  sticks  on  the  fire,  Muskrat, 
and  listen: 

"The  day  was  dark  and  gloomy  in  the  forest. 
Rain  had  been  falling  steadily  since  the  sun 
had  gone  to  his  lodge  in  the  West  the  day  before. 
All  the  forest-people  were  camped  under  the 
big  spruce-trees,  where  the  ground  is  always 
dry.  Even  the  Winds  were  still  and  rested  in 
their  camps.  Everything  was  wet,  and  the 
_world  smelled  wet.  The  people  that  live  in  the 
ground,  like  the  Rabbit  and  the  Mink  and  the 
Skunk,  were  in  their  lodges  with  their  families. 
Even  the  wolves  and  the  other  great  hunters 
were  at  home  waiting  for  the  Sun  to  come  to 
the  world  again. 

59 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"You  would  not  think  that  a  man  would  be 
travelling  at  such  a  time,  but  Old-man  is  seldom 
still.  He  is  always  looking  for  some  kind  of 
trouble,  and  one  can  find  that  in  any  sort  of 
weather.  It  is  plentiful  and  everywhere,  like 
the  grass.  Old-man  was  moving  about  all  that 
time,  and  so  was  Win-to-coo,  the  Man-eating 
Person. 

t(  Old-man  was  slipping  through  a  dark  cedar 
swamp  where  the  giant  trees  made  so  many 
shadows  that  the  grass  did  not  grow.  Rain 
dripped  through  the  boughs,  and  there  were 
pools  of  water  in  the  holes  left  by  trees  that  had 
been  uprooted  by  the  winds.  He  was  wet  and 
cold,  and  was  thinking  about  building  a  fire, 
when  he  saw  something  moving  like  a  shadow 
among  the  trees.  It  was  not  a  shadow,  of 
course,  for  shadows  do  not  live  without  the  Sun 
or  the  Moon.  He  stopped  and  watched  until 
he  saw  it  again.  It  was  a  Person  —  a  Bad 
Person.  It  was  Win-to-coo,  the  Man-eater, 
and  Old-man  saw  him  creep  behind  a  big  tree. 

60 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"Ho !  OW-man  turned  and  ran  as  fast  as  he 
could  go,  for  he  knew  all  about  the  Man-eater. 
He  made  that  Person,  himself,  you  see,  and 
knew  he  was  wicked.  He  was  afraid  of  him  and 
ran  away. 

"Win-to-coo  was  cunning  and  pretended  that 
he  had  not  seen  Old-man.  From  behind  a  tree 
where  he  had  stopped  he  peeped  and  watched 
him  run  away  and  hide  in  some  willows  that 
grew  near  a  creek  that  flowed  through  the  forest. 
When  Old-man,  had  hidden  himself,  Win-to-coo 
started  out  in  another  direction,  making  be 
lieve  that  he  had  not  seen  Old-man  hide.  But 
when  he  got  far  enough  to  fool  him,  he  turned 
and  began  to  travel  in  a  circle  until  he  came  to 
the  willows.  He  walked  softly.  He  knew  just 
where  to  look.  Old-man,  believing  that  Win- 
to-coo  had  not  seen  him,  was  just  crawling  from 
his  hiding-place  when  Swow!  the  Man-eater 
grabbed  him  by  the  hair.  '  I  Ve  got  you !  I  Ve 
got  you,  you ' 

"'How!    How!  my  brother,'  cried  Old-man. 

61 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

'I  'm  glad  to  see  you.  I  Ve  been  looking  for 
you  all  day/ 

"'Ho!'  said  Win-to-coo,  'there  's  no  brother 
of  yours  here.  So  you  Ve  been  looking  for  me 
all  day,  have  you?  Liar!  Forked-tongue! 
Cheat!  Why  did  you  run  out  of  the  cedar 
swamp  when  you  saw  me?  Tell  me  that !' 

"'I  saw  the  Bear  and  I  —  I  didn't  want  him 
to  know  I  was  there/  lied  Old-man.  'I  didn't 
see  you,  Win-to-coo.  I  didn't  even  know  you 
were  in  this  country.  Let  go  of  my  hair. 
You  're  hurting  me.' 

"'You  didn't  see  me,'  laughed  Win-to-coo. 
'But  you  saw  the  Bear.  Well,  I  was  there,  and 
I  didn't  see  the  Bear,  but  I  saw  you.  And  now 
you  see  me,  don't  you?  Say!  don't  you  see 
me  now?' 

'"Yes,  yes,  I  see  you  now,'  said  0/rf-man. 
'Of  course  I  see  you  now.9 

'"Well,  that  is  good,  because  you  will  never  see 
me  again.  I  'm  going  to  roast  and  eat  you.  I  am 
hungry.  Everything  hides  when  it  rains  so  long.' 

62 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"Old-man  began  to  cry.  'Do  not  eat  me, 
Win-to-coo.  Do  not  kill  the  man  that  made 
you/ 

'"Yes,  you  made  me/  said  Win-to-coo,  'and 
you  told  me  what  to  do,  and  I  have  always  done 
that.  Go  now  and  find  dry  wood  under  the 
spruce-trees.  Gather  a  lot  of  it  and  pile  it  up. 
I  want  to  build  a  roasting  fire  to  cook  you. 
Don't  you  try  to  run  away  from  me.  If  you  do, 
I  will  make  you  hurt  longer.  Remember  that/ 

"Old-man  knew  that  he  could  not  run  away 
from  Win-to-coo.  He  had  made  the  Man- 
eater  himself,  and  knew  that  he  could  not  beat 
him  running.  So  he  began  to  gather  the  wood, 
begging  for  his  life  as  he  worked.  'This  wood 
is  all  wet.  It  won't  burn,  Win-to-coo.  Let  me 
go  away.  Oh,  let  me  go,  Win-to-coo/ 

"'Hurry  with  that  wood.  You  made  me 
and  told  me  how  to  live/  said  the  Man-eater. 
'Hurry,  or  I'll ' 

"'I'll  hurry,  Win-to-coo.  I'll  hurry.  Do 
not  kill  me  until  I  get  the  wood/  begged  Old- 

63 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

man.  He  worked  slowly,  whining  over  every 
stick,  but  at  last  he  had  gathered  a  pile  of  dry- 
sticks. 

"'That's  enough/  said  Win-to-coo.  'Now 
go  and  cut  a  long,  strong  roasting-stick.  Get  a 
good  one  that  will  hold  you,  and  not  let  you 
drop  into  the  fire.' 

"Win-to-coo  began  to  build  the  fire,  and  Old- 
man  watched  him  until  he  saw  the  blaze  creep 
up  through  the  smaller  sticks.  Then  he  began 
to  look  for  the  long,  strong  roasting-stick.  He 
examined  many  that  were  good  ones,  but  he 
pretended  that  they  would  not  do.  He  was 
stealing  time.  That  was  what  he  was  doing. 
He  was  looking  for  some  one  to  help  him,  and 
kept  calling  for  helpers  in  a  low  voice  as  he 
walked  about  the  bushes. 

"Win-to-coo's  fire  had  burned  up  grandly, 
and  he  sat  beside  it,  warming  his  hands.  The 
blaze  made  him  sleepy.  His  eyelids  drooped, 
opened,  drooped  again  —  and  he  was  asleep  by 
his  fire. 

64 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"0W-man  saw  that  the  Man-eater  was 
asleep,  but  he  dared  not  try  to  run  away. 
When  he  thought  of  running,  his  knees  grew 
weak  with  fright.  He  kept  pretending  to  look 
for  the  roasting-stick  and  calling  for  helpers. 

"Just  as  he  leaned  over  a  bush  to  reach  for  a 
stick,  a  Weasel  that  had  come  out  of  his  lodge 
to  see  how  the  weather  was,  spoke  to  him: 

"'How,  0«-man/  said  the  Weasel.  'What 
are  you  looking  for?  Why  don't  you  stay  in 
your  lodge  when  it  rains?' 

"'Oh,  my  little  brother!'  cried  Old-man. 
'Oh,  brother,  I  am  in  trouble.  If  you  will  help 
me,  I  will  do  you  a  favor.  I  have  made  the 
other  people  handsome,  and  I  will  do  the  same 
for  you  if  you  will  help  me  now.  I  '11  make  you 
change  your  robe  with  the  seasons  —  make 
each  robe  to  look  like  the  country  you  live  in/ 

'"What 's  the  matter?'  asked  the  Weasel. 

'"Look  over  there  by  that  fire.  That  is 
Win-to-coo,  the  Man-eater.  He  is  going  to 
roast  and  eat  me.  I  am  looking  for  a  roasting- 

65 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

stick  for  him.  I  am  afraid  to  run  away.  He  is 
swifter  than  I  am.  I  know  that,  for  I  made  that 
Person,  ir  self/ 

"'I  will  see  what  I  can  do/  said  the  Weasel. 
'You  stand  still.  Do  not  make  a  noise.  Do 
not  call  for  helpers,  but  wait  until  I  return/ 

"The  Weasel  moves  quickly  and  quietly,  you 
know,  and  he  went  close  to  Win-to-coo  at  the 
fire.  The  Man-eater  was  fast  asleep.  His 
mouth  was  open  and  his  snoring  shook  the 
ground.  Each  breath  that  came  from  the  huge 
body  stirred  the  fur  upon  the  Weasel's  back  as 
the  wind  moves  the  grass  upon  the  ground,  but 
the  Weasel  is  brave.  He  smiled  and  stepped 
backward  to  get  a  good  start,  that  he  might 
pass  Win-to-coo's  teeth  before  he  waked.  Then, 
Swow !  he  ran  down  the  great  throat  of  that 
wicked  Person.  Yes,  and  when  once  inside, 
there  was  nothing  that  could  stop  his  work  — 
nothing  at  all.  The  Weasel  is  a  great  warrior 
and  knows  where  to  strike.  He  ate  Win- 

66 


"  '  Look  over  there  by  that  fire.     That  is  Win-to-coo,  the  Man-Eater.' " 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

to-coo's  heart,  and  of  course  the  Man-eater 
died. 

"When  the  Weasel  came  out,  he  said  to  Old- 
man:  'Well,  that  Person  is  dead.  Now  do  as 
you  promised.  Do  something  for  me/ 

"'Ho,  brave  warrior/  said  Old-man,  'I  will 
do  as  I  promised/  Then  he  sang: 

"'Oh,  Weasel,  my  Brother,  Great  Warrior; 
You  shall  have  but  few  enemies. 
Even  these  shall  not  see  you. 
Swift  as  the  shadows  I  have  made  you. 
Fat  shall  always  be  upon  your  body; 
You  have  saved  me  from  Win-to-coo." 

"When  he  had  finished  singing  he  said:  'I 
give  you  a  white  robe  for  use  when  the  snows 
come.  No  snow  shall  be  whiter  than  you  are. 
But  the  tip  of  your  tail  shall  be  black  to  mark 
you  from  the  other  things  that  are  white  in 
winter.  I  also  give  you  a  yellowish-brown  robe 
to  wear  in  the  summertime.  In  this  robe  you 
will  look  like  the  dead  trees  and  logs  that  lie 

67 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

upon  the  ground.  You  will  always  be  hard  to 
see  in  any  season.  This  will  be  good  for  you 
and  bad  for  your  enemies/ 

"That  is  why  the  Weasel  is  brown  in  summer 
and  white  in  the  winter  time.    Ho!" 


OiZ>-MAN  AND  HIS  NEW  WEAPONS 


OLD-MAN  AND  HIS  NEW  WEAPONS 


village  had  moved  and  now  War 
Eagle's  lodge  stood  near  the  edge  of  a 
mountain  lake.  Deer  came  to  drink  of  the 
water  there  in  the  early  morning,  or  after  the 
sun  had  gone  in  the  evening.  Their  trails  led 
far  back  into  the  dark  forest  from  the  shores  of 
the  lake,  and  the  children  often  followed  the 
well-beaten  ways  for  miles.  Flowers  grew 
plentifully,  too,  for  the  summer  was  young, 
and  the  shade  of  the  trees  was  a  treat  after  the 
sojourn  upon  the  open  plains. 

A  breeze  was  blowing  and  the  lodge-skins  had 
been  raised  from  the  ground.  There  were  no 
fires  burning,  and  in  the  gathering  twilight  the 
children  sat  watching  their  grandfather  smoke 
his  pipe.  When  he  had  finished  and  laid  it 
away  they  begged  for  a  story.  War  Eagle 
smiled.  "It  is  well  that  my  memory  is  good. 

71 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

If  it  were  poor  I  could  not  tell  you  these  stories 
of  long  ago,  but  Manitou  is  kind.  Listen. 

"Old-man  made  everything  that  is  on  the 
world.  I  have  often  told  you  that,  but  some 
times  he  forgot  the  names  of  the  things  he  had 
made.  He  often  thought  they  were  other  than 
they  were,  for  his  memory  was  poor.  Of  course 
he  was  very  old  —  older  than  anybody  or  any 
thing  on  the  world,  and  memory  will  not  last 
forever. 

"  It  was  early  in  the  summer  and  in  a  timbered 
country  where  there  were  many  lakes  like  this 
one  that  is  near  the  lodge.  Old-man  had  been 
unlucky  in  hunting.  His  arrows  were  not  well 
made,  and  so  he  was  hungry  much  of  the  time. 
He  sat  down  on  a  log  and  thought  of  his  troubles. 
Then  he  spoke  to  himself:  '  If  I  could  find  some 
thing  better  with  which  to  make  arrow-points, 
I  could  do  better  work.  I  will  look  for  it. 
Bone  is  hard  to  work  into  arrow  points,  and 
besides  I  lose  so  many  in  hunting.  What  I 
want  is  something  that  works  easily — that 's  it/ 

72 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"He  arose  and  began  to  search  for  something 
with  which  to  make  his  arrow  points.  He  had 
not  gone  far  when  he  came  to  a  pile  of  black 
stuff  upon  the  ground  near  a  lake.  When  the 
water  was  high  in  the  lake  it  covered  the  black 
stuff,  but  it  was  low  now,  and  the  stuff  was  in 
plain  sight.  He  picked  a  piece  from  the  pile. 
It  was  heavy  and  felt  hard.  'Ho!'  he  cried, 
'I  have  found  just  what  I  want,  and  there  is 
plenty  of  it,  too/ 

"He  sat  down  near  the  pile  and  began  to 
work.  He  was  surprised  at  the  ease  with  which 
he  could  make  the  black  stuff  into  arrow  points, 
and  he  made  many.  They  were  well  made,  too, 
and  he  fitted  them  to  good  shafts,  and  soon 
filled  his  quiver  with  fine-looking  arrows.  Then 
he  made  a  knife  from  a  large  piece  of  the  black 
stuff,  and  stuck  the  knife  in  his  belt.  He  began 
to  laugh  then,  and  talk  to  himself.  'Ha,  ha,  ha, 
I  know  what  I  will  do.  Why  didn't  I  think  of 
it  before?  I  will  make  two  more  knives  and 
fasten  them  to  the  ends  of  my  bow.  That  is 

73 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

what  I  will  do.  Ha,  ha,  ha  —  that  will  give 
me  more  weapons  than  any  other  man  carries. 
That  will  make  me  a  great  warrior  —  greater 
than  any  that  lives.  Ha,  ha,  ha,  why  didn't  I 
think  of  that  before,  ha,  ha,  ha/ 

"It  did  not  take  him  long  to  make  the  knives 
and  tie  them  to  the  ends  of  his  bow.  He  was 
pleased  with  himself,  and  having  many  new 
weapons  he  set  out  to  look  for  trouble.  New 
weapons  are  apt  to  get  us  all  into  trouble.  It 
has  always  been  so.  It  will  be  so  as  long  as 
men  live.  Old-man  began  to  sing  his  war-song, 
and  when  he  had  finished  called  out:  'Hey, 
Bear!  I  want  to  fight  you.  Come  where  I 
can  see  you !  Hey,  Bear !  You  are  a  coward ! 
Don't  you  hear  me  calling  you?  I  am  at  war 
with  you,  Bear!' 

"Nothing  answered  except  the  echoes,  but 
OW-man  kept  travelling  and  calling;  for  his  new 
weapons  had  made  him  foolish.  He  was  grow 
ing  warm  from  fast  walking  and  calling  when,  at 
last,  he  saw  the  Bear  on  the  far  side  of  a  lake. 

74 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"The  Bear  was  minding  his  own  business, 
and  was  digging  roots  to  eat.  He  had  heard 
no  calling  because  he  was  busy.  When  people 
are  busy  they  do  not  look  for  trouble,  and  it 
seldom  comes  to  them  that  mind  their  own 
business. 

"Old-man  hid  himself  behind  a  dead  tree  on 
the  ground  near  the  lake.  Then  he  raised  him 
self  a  little  and  called:  'Hey,  you  Humped-up 
Person  over  there!  You  are  homely!'  Then 
he  hid  himself  again. 

"The  Bear  stopped  his  work.  His  nose  was 
covered  with  dirt.  He  looked  across  the  lake 
but  there  was  nobody  in  sight.  He  stood  still 
and  listened,  but  heard  nothing  but  the  wind  in 
the  tree-tops.  'I  guess  I  must  have  been  mis 
taken/  he  said  to  himself,  and  commenced  to 
dig  roots  again. 

"'Hey,  you  Stub-tail  Person  over  there! 
What  became  of  your  tail?'  yelled  Old-man 
from  behind  the  tree  on  the  ground. 

"The  Bear  didn't  like  that  talk.    Almost 

75 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

everybody  knew  how  he  had  lost  his  tail,  and 
he  didn't  want  people  to  talk  about  it.  He 
stopped  digging  and  turned  clear  around  from 
his  work  to  see  who  was  calling  him  names,  but 
he  didn't  see  anybody.  '  I  'd  like  to  know  who 
that  was  that  called  me  names/  said  the  Bear. 
*No  Person  can  call  me  such  names.  They 
know  better.  It 's  some  foolish  one,  I  guess/ 
and  he  turned  to  his  work  once  more. 

"'Here  I  am,  you  big  coward.  I  have  been 
looking  for  you  all  day.  Why  don't  you  come 
close  when  I  call  you.  When  a  Person  wants 
to  fight  you,  do  you  hide?  I  want  to  fight. 
That  is  the  reason  I  have  been  looking  for  you 
so  long/  OW-man  stood  up  so  the  Bear  could 
see  him,  and  laughed,  'Ha,  ha,  ha/ 

"'You  wait  right  there/  called  the  Bear. 
'You  stay  right  where  you  are.  I  '11  come  close 
enough  to  suit  you.  I  suppose  you  want  to 
see  me  get  wet,  and  then  run  away;  but  you 
will  have  to  run  far  for  I  shall  chase  you  until 
we  fight.  You  have  made  me  angry,  Old-man.9 

76 


fOW-Man  stood  up  so  the  Bear  could  see  him,  and  laughed 
'Ha,  ha,  ha.'" 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

He  plunged  into  the  lake  and  began  to  swim 
across. 

"'Ha,  ha,  ha/  laughed  Old-man.  'You 
awkward  Person.  You  Stub-tail  Thing.  You 
Humped-up  big  Fool.  Come  on !  I  'm  tired 
travelling  and  calling  to  you.  I  'm  tired  wait 
ing.  You  swim  slow.  Hurry !  I  want  to  show 
you  some  new  weapons/  and  he  danced  on  the 
shore  of  the  lake  calling  the  Bear  more  names; 
wasting  the  breath  he  would  need,  in  boasting. 

"He  did  not  wait  for  the  Bear  to  reach  the 
land.  Oh,  no.  He  was  not  fair;  but  as  soon 
as  the  Bear  had  come  close  enough,  one,  two, 
three,  four,  went  his  arrows.  Ho!  but  they 
broke.  Their  points  crumbled  without  making 
the  Bear's  blood  run. 

" 'Ho !  Come  on !  Come  right  along,  Bear/ 
called  OW-man.  'I  have  more  weapons/  He 
began  to  stab  the  Bear  with  the  knives  that 
were  tied  to  the  ends  of  his  bow,  but  they  broke 
into  bits  and  fell  to  the  ground  like  willow 
leaves  when  the  summer  is  dead. 

77 


INDIAN  OLZ>-MAN  STORIES 

"'Ha,  ha,  ha!  That  is  nothing/  he  cried. 
*  I  have  a  big  knife  yet.  Come  on,  Bear !  *  But 
his  knife  was  as  poor  as  his  arrows  and  broke 
into  bits. 

"What  do  you  think  he  had  used  to  make 
his  weapons  ?  Bark  —  water-logged  bark,  and 
he  thought  it  was  stone. 

"Ho !  Now  it  was  the  Bear's  turn,  and  Old- 
man  fled.  The  Bear  was  close  to  his  heels 
when  he  dodged  behind  a  clump  of  willows  to 
run  about  it.  'Round  and  'round  they  ran. 
Faster  and  faster  they  circled  the  clump  of  wil 
lows  in  a  mad  race.  So  many  times  they  ran 
around  the  clump  of  willows  that  the  ground  was 
made  dusty  with  their  footsteps.  There  was 
nothing  funny  about  it  now  that  OW-man  could 
see ;  but  he  kept  at  work  running.  He  could  not 
cry  nor  beg  because  he  needed  his  breath.  It 
was  all  he  could  do  to  keep  his  heels  from  the 
Bear.  They  were  both  breathing  hard.  The 
Bear's  nose  almost  touched  OW-man's  moccasins 
when  Old-man's  toe  struck  against  something 

78 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

and  nearly  tripped  him.  He  did  not  know  what 
it  was,  but  his  toe  gave  him  pain  because  of  the 
thing  that  had  struck  it.  He  watched  for  the 
thing  when  he  came  around  the  willows  again, 
and  what  do  you  think  it  was  ?  —  a  buffalo  horn 
that  had  been  there  so  long  that  the  ground 
had  covered  it.  When  Old-man,  saw  what  it 
was  he  kicked  it  every  time  he  came  to  it  in 
his  running.  He  was  nearly  out  of  breath 
when  the  horn  came  out  of  the  ground.  He 
was  going  so  fast  he  couldn't  stop,  but  he  slowed 
down  a  little  bit,  and  the  next  time  he  came  to 
the  horn  he  stooped  and  grabbed  it  —  stuck  it 
on  his  forehead  and  turned  upon  the  Bear. 
'  Wooh  —  wooh !'  he  cried.  So  suddenly  did  he 
turn  upon  the  Bear,  and  so  fierce  were  the 
snorts  — '  Wooh  —  Wooh ! '  that  the  Bear  turned 
and  fled  with  Old-man  close  behind  him  snort 
ing  '  Wooh  —  wooh '  at  every  jump  and  as  loudly 
as  his  breath  would  let  him. 

"The  Bear  made  a  great  noise  in  the  brush 
as  he  ran  away,  but  OW-man  followed  him  only 

79 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

a  little  way.    Then  he  sat  down  on  a  log  and 
laughed   and   laughed  —  'Ha,    ha,    ha  —  Ho! 
ha,  ha,  ha!    Oh,  Ho!    I  wonder  how  many 
buffalo  the  Bear  thought  were  after  him  ? ' 
"Ho!" 


80 


LOOKS  AT  THE  STARS 


LOOKS  AT  THE  STARS 

"OTRANGE  things  happened  to  men  when 
^  the  world  was  young/'  said  War  Eagle, 
as  he  laid  aside  his  pipe.  "Put  wood  on  the 
fire,  Buffalo-calf,  and  I  will  tell  you  a  story. 
It  has  been  many  shows  since  it  came  to  my 
mind. 

"Looks-at-the-stars  was  young,  and  the  world 
was  not  old.  Our  people  were  camped  near  the 
shore  of  the  Big-water,  eastward.  One  night 
in  his  father's  lodge  the  Wind  spoke  to  Looks- 
at-the-stars:  'Come  to  the  Big-water/  it  whis 
pered.  The  young  man  heard  the  words  of  the 
Wind  but  he  was  sleepy  and  did  not  heed  them. 
At  first  the  voice  of  the  Wind  was  low,  but  it 
grew  louder  and  louder  until  it  cried:  'Come! 
Come  to  the  Big-water,  Looks-at-the-stars  — 
come  to  the  Big- water!'  It  shook  the  lodge. 
It  screamed.  It  cried  out:  'Come  to  the  Big- 

83 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

water,  Young-man/  All  the  sleepers  sat  up  in 
their  beds  in  the  dark,  but  they  saw  nothing  — 
heard  nothing,  save  the  Wind  in  the  trees. 
Then  the  Wind  whispered  so  soft  and  low  that 
none  of  the  others  heard  the  words : '  Come  to  the 
Big-water,  Looks-at-the-stars.'  When  it  had 
whispered,  the  Wind  went  away  and  hid  in  the 
bushes  near  the  lodge.  Looks-at-the-stars  knew 
it  was  watching. 

"The  night  was  still  again.  The  people  in 
the  lodge  lay  down  to  sleep  once  more  —  all  but 
Looks-at-the-stars.  As  soon  as  he  was  sure  that 
his  father  was  asleep,  he  took  his  bow  and 
quiver  of  arrows  and  crept  out  of  the  lodge. 
He  went  to  the  shore  of  the  Big-water  as  the 
Wind  had  commanded. 

"It  was  smooth,  and  still  as  the  places  where 
the  dead  are  buried.  No  waves  broke  upon 
the  shore.  No  night-birds  spoke  from  the  dark 
forest  behind  his  father's  lodge.  Even  the 
Echoes  slept  soundly  in  their  beds  that  no  man 
sees.  The  Moon  and  the  Stars,  wife  and  chil- 

84 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

dren  of  the  Sun,  looked  down  at  the  Big-water 
from  the  sky  and  saw  themselves  upon  it  in  the 
night. 

"'I  am  here,  Oh,  Wind/  whispered  Looks-at- 
the-stars.  'Where  are  you?  What  would  you 
have  me  do?*  No  one  answered.  A  loon 
laughed  from  out  on  the  Big-water  where  the 
stars  lay  thickest  upon  it.  The  laugh  was  like 
that  of  ghosts,  but  Looks-at-the-stars  knew  that 
it  was  the  Spotted  Loon  that  laughed,  for  he 
knew  his  voice. 

"'I  am  here,  Oh,  Wind/  the  Young-man  whis 
pered,  and  then  he  saw  a  dark  object  coming 
toward  him  from  out  on  the  Big-water.  It  was 
a  birch-bark  canoe.  The  Wind  was  bringing  it 
out  of  the  night.  The  canoe  was  strange  and 
had  been  made  by  other  people  in  another  world. 
Only  the  Wind  was  paddling.  The  canoe 
touched  the  shore  at  the  feet  of  Looks-at-the- 
stars  and  the  Wind  arose  and  spoke:  'Get  into 
the  canoe,  Oh,  Young-man.  Be  not  afraid/ 

"Looks-at-the-stars  knelt  in  the  canoe  but 

85 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

saw  no  paddle,  and  he  wondered.  Then  the 
Wind  sang  a  song  and  the  canoe  left  the  shore, 
paddled  only  by  the  Wind.  Louder  and  louder 
the  Wind  sang,  and  faster  and  faster  the  canoe 
sped  out  upon  the  dark  Big-water  among  the 
stars  that  fled  before  it.  Never  before  did  a 
canoe  travel  so  fast.  Great  waves  came  from 
their  lodges  when  the  Wind  sang  loud,  and  they 
spattered  Looks-at-the-stars  with  their  spray, 
but  he  was  not  afraid.  The  Moon  had  hidden 
away.  The  Stars  had  faded  before  the  graying 
light. 

"At  last  the  night  was  driven  away  by  the 
Sun,  and  yet  the  canoe,  paddled  by  the  Wind, 
went  on.  Looks-at-the-stars  glanced  backward. 
The  land  was  gone.  He  could  not  see  it.  Only 
the  Big-water  was  near,  and  it  was  angry  at  the 
Wind  for  bringing  the  canoe,  but  the  Wind  was 
not  afraid  and  drove  the  Waves  before  it.  On 
and  on  the  Wind  paddled  the  canoe  until  the 
Sun  had  gone  to  his  lodge  in  the  West  and  the 
Dark  was  coming  fast.  'Boom,  boom,  boom/ 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

A  great  noise  was  ahead  of  the  canoe  and  rose 
above  the  battle  of  the  Wind  with  the  Waves. 
The  noise  came  from  the  foot  of  a  cliff  of  rocks 
where  the  Waves  were  being  driven  against  it 
by  the  Wind.  All  about  the  cliff  the  water 
was  white  as  the  snows  of  winter,  and  the  Wind 
shrieked  in  anger  there.  Suddenly  the  canoe 
was  turned,  and  just  as  the  night  drove  the 
light  of  day  from  the  world  of  Big- water,  it  was 
dashed  upon  the  rocks  of  a  strange  land,  and 
broken  into  pieces. 

"The  Wind  screamed  at  the  Waves  as  they 
tore  the  canoe  into  bits  and  threw  Looks-at-the- 
stars  high  upon  the  shore.  His  head  struck  a 
rock  upon  the  beach,  and  the  Wind  went  away 
with  the  Waves  and  left  him  there.  The  rock 
had  made  him  sleep  —  made  him  as  one  who  is 
without  power  to  move  throughout  the  night. 

"The  Sun  of  another  day  was  high  when 
Looks-at-the-stars  sat  up.  The  Big-water  was 
still.  The  Wind  had  gone  away.  His  bow  was 
gone,  but  the  quiver  of  arrows  was  still  at  his 

87 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

shoulder.  He  rubbed  his  eyes.  He  thought 
he  had  been  dreaming.  Suddenly  he  saw  a 
shadow  that  moved  upon  the  shore.  He  turned 
to  see  what  had  made  the  shadow  that  moved. 
Ho !  a  Mighty  Person  —  a  Terrible  Person  stood 
near  him.  So  tall  was  he  that  he  could  reach 
the  nests  of  birds  in  the  tallest  tree-tops.  His 
face  was  covered  with  hair,  and  his  eyes  were 
blue  as  the  sky  in  summer.  Ho !  Looks-at-the- 
stars  was  frightened.  He  sprang  to  his  feet 
and  ran  away  —  ran  as  the  deer  runs,  along  the 
shore  of  the  strange  land.  All  the  day  he  ran, 
and  fear  made  his  steps  long  and  fast.  His 
breath  was  gone.  His  heart  was  beating  like  a 
war-drum  when  he  thought  he  was  far  away 
from  the  Terrible  Person.  He  thought  he  was 
safe  and  stopped  running.  There  —  right  be 
fore  him  —  he  saw  the  pieces  of  his  own  canoe 
upon  the  shore.  There  —  right  before  him  — 
stood  the  Terrible  Person,  just  where  he  had 
left  him  when  he  began  to  run  away.  Ho !  the 
land  was  an  island!  Looks-at-the-stars  had 


Ho,  a  Mighty  Person,  a  Terrible  Person,  stood  before  him/ 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

run  around  it.  Yes,  the  strange  land  was  an 
island,  and  it  belonged  to  the  Terrible  Person. 
He  could  not  escape.  He  sank  to  his  knees  for 
he  was  weak  from  running,  and  his  fear  was 
great.  He  covered  his  face  with  his  hands. 
He  was  sure  that  the  Terrible  Person  would  take 
his  life. 

"'Why  did  you  run  away,  Young-man?'  It 
was  the  Terrible  Person  that  spoke.  His  voice 
made  the  ground  tremble. 

"'I  was  afraid,  oh,  Terrible  Person,'  said 
Looks-at-the-stars. 

"'Why  did  you  come  here,  Young-man?' 

"'The  Wind  brought  me,  oh,  Terrible  Person. 
I  do  not  lie.' 

"'The  Wind  is  my  friend,'  said  the  Terrible 
Person,  and  he  stooped  and  picked  Looks-at-the- 
stars  from  the  ground  as  a  woman  lifts  a  baby. 
He  swung  the  Young-man  upon  his  shoulder  and 
set  out  toward  the  middle  of  the  island  with 
steps  that  made  the  island  shake  and  tremble. 
The  head  of  Looks-at-the-stars  was  high  above 

89 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

the  tallest  pine-trees,  and  he  held  on  by  grab 
bing  a  braid  of  the  Terrible  Person's  hair.  They 
travelled  in  this  way  until  they  came  to  a  moun 
tain  with  a  Great  Hole  in  its  side,  and  there  was 
smoke  coming  from  its  top.  Before  entering 
the  Great  Hole  the  Terrible  Person  lifted  Looks- 
at-the-stars  from  his  shoulder  and  carried  him 
in  his  arms,  as  a  woman  carries  a  baby.  The 
Great  Hole  in  the  mountain  was  dark,  and  as 
they  entered  Looks-at-the-stars  saw  the  eyes 
of , many  Bears  and  Wolves  staring  at  him  as 
they  passed.  The  Terrible  Person  had  to  stoop 
as  he  travelled,  and  the  Dark  grew  blacker  as 
they  entered  the  mountain.  The  footsteps  of 
the  Terrible  Person  made  a  noise  like  the  beat 
ing  of  war-drums  as  he  travelled.  Little  stones 
that  were  moved  by  his  feet  rolled  away  with 
strange  sounds  into  blacker  dark. 

"The  Young-man  looked  backward.  The 
Great  Hole  in  the  mountain  was  so  far  away 
that  it  seemed  no  larger  than  a  man's  hand. 
It  looked  white  in  the  dark,  but  the  Terrible 

90 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

Person  turned  in  his  course,  and  it  was  gone  — 
gone.  All  was  damp.  Water  dripped  from  the 
top  and  sides  of  the  Great  Hole  in  the  moun 
tain,  and  Looks-at-the-stars  heard  things  pass 
near  them  —  heard  them  breathing  —  saw  their 
eyes  burning  like  small  fires  in  the  night.  He 
was  much  afraid  and  was  trembling  when  he 
heard  little  voices  singing  just  ahead.  Suddenly 
they  came  to  a  fire.  The  smoke  and  sparks 
went  straight  up  through  a  hole  in  the  top  of 
the  mountain,  and  about  the  fire  sat  many 
singers.  They  had  large  heads  and  fierce  faces, 
but  their  bodies  were  bony  and  small.  They 
were  no  larger  than  little  children,  and  their 
chief  was  a  Great  Horned  Owl. 

"They  were  the  Ghost  People,  of  course,  and 
they  lived  in  that  mountain,  but  when  the 
Terrible  Person  stopped  by  the  fire  the  singers 
went  away.  Where  they  had  been  there  was 
nothing  at  all  —  nothing.  It  was  as  though 
they  had  never  been  there. 

"'This  is  my  lodge/  said  the  Terrible  Person. 

91 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

'Let  us  eat/  He  handed  Looks-at-the-stars  a 
piece  of  roasted  meat,  but  it  was  so  heavy  that 
he  could  not  lift  it  from  the  ground.  He  knelt 
beside  the  meat  and  tried  to  eat,  but  the  meat 
was  so  tough  he  could  not  chew  it.  Then  he 
saw  the  marrow  in  a  bone  in  the  meat,  and  he 
began  to  eat  of  the  marrow.  He  was  very 
hungry  and  ate  much  —  so  much  did  he  eat 
that  he  crawled  inside  the  bone  to  eat  the  mar 
row.  When  he  could  eat  no  more  he  went  to 
sleep  inside  the  bone  and  could  not  tell  how  long 
he  slept. 

"'Young-man  —  Young-man/  called  the  Ter 
rible  Person.  'Come,  I  will  take  you  to  your 
people  now,  but  you  must  never  tell  them  where 
I  live.  I  do  not  want  visitors.  I  have  no 
woman.  I  have  no  daughters  for  your  young 
men.  I  have  no  sons  for  your  young  women, 
and  I  have  nothing  to  trade.  Remember  what 
I  have  said.  Come/ 

"He  carried  Looks-at-the-stars  to  the  shore 
of  the  island  near  the  spot  where  the  canoe  had 

92 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

been  broken  by  the  waves,  and,  after  making 
him  sit  upon  his  mighty  head,  the  Terrible  Per 
son  stepped  into  the  Big-water.  The  Sun  was 
not  high  in  the  morning  when  he  began  to  walk 
in  the  Big-water.  The  water  was  hardly  over  his 
moccasins  when  the  day  was  half  gone,  but  as 
the  Sun  turned  toward  his  lodge  in  the  West 
the  Big-water  covered  the  knees  of  the  Terrible 
Person,  and  when  the  Sun  had  gone,  the  Big- 
water  was  above  his  waist. 

"The  dark  came  and  the  Big-water  grew 
deeper,  but  the  Terrible  Person  kept  travelling 
throughout  the  night.  When  morning  came 
again  the  Big-water  was  upon  the  shoulders  of 
the  Terrible  Person  and  the  feet  of  Looks-at- 
the-stars  were  wet.  Little  Waves  dashed  in 
the  face  of  the  Terrible  Person  when  he  stopped 
walking  in  the  Big- water,  and  said:  'Can  you 
see  your  own  country,  now?' 

"'I  can  see  the  land/  answered  Looks-at-the- 
stars. 

"'Well,  that  is  your  own  country/  said  the 

93 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

Terrible  Person.  'It  is  not  far  off,  now,  but  I 
must  not  go  farther.  I  dare  not  step  upon 
your  country.  I  will  call  the  Turtle.  He  will 
take  you  to  your  own  people.  Then  the  Ter 
rible  Person  sang  a  song  —  The  Song  of  the 
Waters  —  and  the  Turtle  came  to  the  top  of 
the  Big-water  near  them. 

"Looks-at-the-stars  did  not  know  that  there 
were  such  Turtle  people  as  this  one  that  came 
when  the  Terrible  Person  sang.  This  one  was 
as  large  as  a  buffalo  robe,  and  painted  with 
many  colors. 

"'What  is  it  you  want?'  asked  the  Turtle. 

" '  I  want  you  to  take  this  Young-man  to  the 
land  —  to  his  own  country.  Let  him  sit  upon 
your  back,  and  you  must  swim  high  so  the 
waves  will  not  wash  him  from  your  shell.' 

"'I  will  do  the  best  I  can/  said  the  Turtle, 
'but  the  Young-man  must  sit  still  or  he  will 
make  me  tip/ 

"The  Terrible  Person  put  Looks-at-the-stars 
upon  the  Turtle's  back,  and  said:  'Good-by, 

94 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

Young-man.  Never  tell  where  I  live.  If  you 
do  I  will  make  Trouble  come  to  you  and  stay 
a  long  time/ 

"  *  Good-by,'  said  Looks-at-the-stars,  ' you 
have  treated  me  well/ 

"The  Turtle  swam  away  and  so  fast  was  he 
that  before  the  day  was  gone  his  feet  touched 
the  shore  of  the  land.  'Get  off  my  back  now/ 
said  the  Turtle,  'and  remember  what  the  Ter 
rible  Person  has  told  you.  Good-by,  Young- 
man.  I  must  get  back  to  my  family/  Then 
he  was  gone  in  the  Big-water. 

"The  people  thought  that  Looks-at-the-stars 
was  dead.  His  father  and  mother  had  mourned 
for  him.  His  father  had  cut  off  his  hair  in  his 
grief,  and  his  mother  would  speak  to  none.  Ho ! 
they  were  glad  to  see  Looks-at-the-stars  alive. 
There  was  a  feast  and  much  dancing.  They 
asked  him  many  questions,  and  he  answered 
them  all  —  all,  but  one.  He  would  never  tell 
where  the  Terrible  Person  lived,  and  we  do  not 
know  to  this  day.  Looks-at-the-stars  is  dead. 

95 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

Uncounted  snows  have  passed  since  he  died, 
but  yet  we  do  not  know  where  he  met  the 
Terrible  Person  because  he  kept  his  promise. 
Ho!" 


96 


CA-MEE-NO-WA-SIT 


CA-MEE-NO-WA-SIT 

"TT7AS    Win-to-coo,    the    Man-eater,    the 
worst  Person  on  the  World  when  it 
was   new,   grandfather  ?"    asked   Eyes-in-the- 
water  one  night  in  the  lodge. 

"No,"  replied  War  Eagle.  "There  was  an 
other  Person  with  evil  ways.  He  was  strong 
and  his  heart  was  as  bad  as  Win-to-coo's,  but 
I  never  saw  him.  He  had  left  the  World  be 
fore  I  came.  His  name  was  Ca-mee-no-wa-sit, 
the  Hairy  Man.  My  grandfather  told  me  that 
he  had  never  seen  Ca-mee-no-wa-sit,  and  grand 
father  lived  many  snows  ago.  So  the  Hairy 
Man  must  have  been  on  the  World  when  all  the 
people  were  young.  Those  who  saw  him  have 
never  talked  with  me,  but  many  of  our  old  men 
have  heard  of  him,  and,  of  course,  he  did  live 
long  ago.  He  may  still  be  alive  in  some  other 


INDIAN  OILMAN  STORIES 

country,  but  I  am  sure  it  must  be  far  off  or 
some  of  our  people'would  see  him,  for  they  travel 
a  great  deal. 

"Wah-ki-oose  was  a  great  hunter.  He  was 
of  our  own  people,  and  my  grandfather  has  told 
me  of  him.  One  night  he  dreamed.  A  Fox 
talked  to  him  as  he  slept.  This  is  what  the 
Fox  said:  'There  is  an  Owl  on  your  lodge-poles, 
oh,  Wah-ki-oose.  He  is  calling  you/  Then 
the  Fox  went  away  into  the  forest.  Wah-ki- 
oose  saw  him  dig  a  hole  in  the  ground  near  the 
roots  of  a  pine-tree.  In  the  digging  the  Fox 
found  a  feather.  He  brought  the  feather  to  the 
lodge  and  laid  it  upon  the  breast  of  Wah-ki- 
oose.  Then  he  said  again:  'There 's  an  Owl  on 
your  lodge-poles,  Wah-ki-oose.  He  is  calling 
you.  I  have  spoken.'  As  soon  as  he  finished 
speaking  the  Fox  went  away  in  the  night,  and 
Wah-ki-oose  saw  him  no  more. 

"The  night  was  old  when  Wah-ki-oose  awak 
ened.  'Whoooo-Whoooo-Who-Whoo,'  said  an 
Owl  right  over  his  head.  Yes,  there  was  an  Owl 

100 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

on  the  lodge-poles,  and  he  was  calling,  as  the 
Fox  had  said. 

"Ho !  Wah-ki-oose  was  frightened.  That  is 
always  bad,  to  have  an  Owl  call  from  the  lodge- 
poles.  Wah-ki-oose  sat  up  and  a  feather  fell  to 
his  knees.  It  was  the  feather  that  the  Fox  had 
laid  upon  his  breast,  and  it  was  from  the  wing 
of  the  Thunder  Bird  —  Ho ! 

"As  soon  as  Wah-ki-oose  sat  up  the  Owl 
flew  away  from  the  lodge  and  did  not  call  again, 
but  fear  was  upon  Wah-ki-oose.  His  heart 
was  on  the  ground,  and  he  was  afraid.  Finally 
the  Sun  came  and  looked  in  through  the  lodge 
door.  It  was  in  the  summer,  and  as  the  Sun 
warmed  the  World,  a  Butterfly  flew  within  and 
settled  upon  the  youngest  son  of  Wah-ki-oose. 
Ho!  that  was  bad  — very  bad,  and  Wah-ki- 
oose  watched  the  Butterfly  fan  the  sleeping 
child  with  his  wings.  Slowly  the  wings  moved 
in  the  bright  sunlight  and  Wah-ki-oose  knew 
that  the  child  would  die.  He  was  sad.  He 
thought  he  would  take  the  little  boy  and  go 

101 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

away  from  there  —  far  away.  He  lifted  the 
sleeping  child  from  the  ground  to  his  shoulders 
and  ran  through  the  forest.  He  saw  the  Fox, 
but  he  did  not  speak  to  him.  He  saw  the  Owl, 
too,  but  he  did  not  go  near  him.  All  of  the  day 
he  travelled  toward  the  West  until,  when  the 
day  was  old,  he  came  to  the  plains. 

"Far  out  in  the  open  country  he  saw  some 
thing  moving  and  watched  it.  It  looked  like  a 
man,  and  Wah-ki-oose  was  hungry.  'Perhaps 
that  man's  lodge  is  near.  I  will  go  to  him  and 
ask  him  to  give  us  something  to  eat.  Yes,  I 
will  speak  to  him/  he  said  to  himself.  'Even 
if  he  is  an  enemy  he  will  not  refuse  food/ 

"When  he  was  yet  far  from  the  Person  he 
stopped,  for  the  Person  had  held  up  his  hand 
in  warning.  Then  Wah-ki-oose  saw^that  it  was 
Ca-mee-no-wa-sit,  the  Hairy  Man,  and  fear 
was  in  his  heart.  He  could  not  move.  He 
stood  and  gazed  at  the  awful  Person,  and  then 
Ca-mee-no-wa-sit  waved  his  hand  as  though  it 
held  a  knife.  Suddenly  Wah-ki-oose  felt  his 

102 


When  he  was  yet  far  from  the  Person  he  stopped,  for  the  Person  had 
held  up  his  hand  in  warning." 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

shoulder  growing  warm  and  looked  to  see  why 
it  was  so.  It  was  blood.  Yes,  it  Vas  blood  on 
his  shoulder  that  made  it  warm,  and  the  little 
boy  was  dead.  Ca-mee-no-wa-sit  had  killed 
him.  Ho!  Wah-ki-oose  turned  to  run,  but 
the  Hairy  Man  made  another  motion  with  his 
empty  hand,  and  the  runner  fell  bleeding  upon 
the  ground.  He  died  there,  and  our  people 
found  them  both  —  Wah-ki-oose  and  the  boy — 
dead  upon  the  plain. 

"The  Fox  knew,  and  the  Owl  had  told  the 
truth.  Even  the  Butterfly  had  given  his  warn 
ing,  but  Wah-ki-oose  thought  he  could  escape 
by  running.  What  is  to  be,  will  be.  Ho !" 


103 


STRIKES-AND-KILLS 


STRIKES-AND-KILLS 

"  TT  AVE  I  ever  told  you  the  story  of  Strikes- 

Al  and-kills?"  asked  War  Eagle. 

"No,  grandfather,"  said  Buffalo-calf.  "Tell 
us  the  story." 

"My  grandfather  knew  a  woman  who  was 
related  to  Strikes-and-kills,"  began  War  Eagle. 
"The  woman  was  old  when  my  grandfather  was 
born,  but  she  told  him  the  story  that  I  will  tell 
you. 

"The  father  of  Strikes-and-kills  lost  his  life 
in  our  wars  with  the  Sioux.  Strikes-and-kills 
had  seen  but  four  snows  when  his  father  fell  in 
battle,  and  there  was  no  one  to  kill  meat  for  the 
family.  People  gave  them  meat,  of  course,  but 
that  is  never  the  same  as  killing  it  yourself. 
Sometimes  the  meat  that  is  given  is  not  of  the 
best,  and  Strikes-and-kills  was  proud.  When 
he  had  seen  eight  snows  his  mother  died  and 

107 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

left  him  to  take  care  of  his  brother,  Little  Bear, 
who  had  been  on  earth  but  a  little  more  than 
four  snows.  Soon  after  his  mother  died  the 
village  moved,  but  Strikes-and-kills  left  his 
lodge  standing.  He  said  he  would  not  go  with 
the  village.  The  old  men  that  had  known  his 
father  talked  to  him,  but  he  said  'No,  I  am  old 
enough  now.  I  can  kill  my  own  meat  and  take 
care  of  my  brother.  I  am  going  to  stay  here 
for  a  while/ 

"So  the  village  moved  away.  Where  all  the 
lodges  had  been  there  was  nothing  save  the 
marks  of  the  fires.  Each  morning  Strikes-and- 
kills  left  his  brother  in  the  lodge  and  went  hunt 
ing.  Each  day  he  killed  two  rabbits  and  caught 
a  few  fish  in  the  river.  But  each  night  when  he 
returned  to  the  lodge  with  the  meat  and  fish 
he  found  his  little  brother  crying.  One  night 
he  brought  some  willows  to  the  lodge,  and  in 
the  firelight  made  them  into  small  hoops. 
These  hoops  he  gave  to  Little  Bear,  and  taught 
him  how  to  roll  them.  The  little  boy  played 

108 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

with  the  hoops  and  seemed  happy,  but  every 
day  he  cried  in  the  lodge,  because  he  was  lone 
some.  Strikes-and-kills  was  sorry  for  Little 
Bear,  and  one  morning  as  he  set  out  to  hunt 
said:  'Come,  my  brother,  I  will  take  you  with 
me.  We  will  hunt  together.  I  will  walk  slowly/ 

So  they  started  to  hunt  in  the  forest.  Little 
Bear  had  his  willow  hoops  strung  on  his  arm,  for 
he  would  not  leave  them  behind,  and  kept  talk 
ing  and  laughing.  'You  must  not  talk,  Little 
Bear/  said  Strikes-and-kills.  'How  can  I  kill 
rabbits  when  you  talk  and  laugh.  They  hear 
your  voice  and  run  away  and  hide/ 

"At  last,  they  came  to  the  shores  of  a  large 
lake  —  a  strange  lake,  as  you  shall  see.  They 
had  travelled  far,  and  Little  Bear  was  tired. 
He  began  to  cry,  and  Strikes-and-kills  rolled 
the  hoops  for  him.  The  shore  of  the  lake  was 
sandy  and  smooth,  and  the  hoops  rolled  mer 
rily.  Sometimes  a  hoop  would  roll  into  the 
water  and  Little  Bear  would  shout  with  delight 
when  his  brother  stepped  into  the  water  and 

109 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

grabbed  it  before  it  floated  away.  '  I  '11  roll  just 
one  more  hoop  into  the  water,  Little  Bear/  said 
Strikes-and-kills.  'Then  we  must  be  going.' 

The  hoop  danced  over  the  sand,  struck  a  rock, 
bounded  high,  staggered,  reached  the  sand 
again,  and  then  jumped  into  the  water  with  a 
splash.  Ho!  a  man  in  a  canoe  was  there. 
They  had  not  seen  him  before.  No,  not  until 
the  hoop  struck  the  water  and  splashed  it. 
The  man  scooped  the  hoop  into  his  canoe  with 
his  paddle,  and  looked  at  them  without  speaking. 

"'Do  not  take  that  hoop/  cried  Strikes-and- 
kills.  'My  brother  will  cry  if  you  do/ 

"'Come  and  get  it,  then/  said  the  man  in  the 
canoe,  and  he  put  his  paddle-blade  upon  the 
shore  to  hold  the  canoe  near  the  land. 

"Strikes-and-kills  stepped  into  the  canoe  to 
get  the  hoop  and  the  man  began  to  paddle 
away.  '  Wait !  I  want  to  get  out/  cried  Strikes- 
and-kills.  But  the  man  paid  no  attention  to  his 
words  and  kept  at  paddling  the  canoe.  The 
shore  was  far  away  now,  and  Ho !  —  where  Little 

no 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

Bear  had  been  only  a  Wolf  was  standing.  Then 
Strikes-and-kills  knew  that  his  brother  had  been 
changed  into  a  Wolf.  He  looked  to  see  what 
kind  of  a  Person  paddled  the  canoe.  Ho!  it 
was  a  Mountain  Lion  —  not  a  Man-person,  at 
all,  but  a  Mountain  Lion  that  paddled  the 
canoe. 

"At  last  the  canoe  touched  the  shore  and  the 
Lion-person  told  Strikes-and-kills  to  get  out, 
and  he  did.  "Come  with  me/  said  the  Lion- 
person,  picking  up  his  canoe.  He  led  the  way 
to  a  dark  cave  in  the  rocks  near  the  lake  and 
entered.  A  young  woman-lion  was  in  the  lodge 
and  the  Lion-person  said:  'Daughter,  I  have 
brought  you  a  Man-person.  Keep  him  until 
he  grows  up,  and  then  you  may  have  him/ 
Then  he  covered  Strikes-and-kills  with  his 
canoe  and  went  to  sleep  in  the  lodge. 

"The  young  Lion- woman  was  kind  to  Strikes-' 
and-kills.  She  let  him  out  from  under  the 
canoe  whenever  her  father  was  gone,  but  told 
him  he  must  never  try  to  run  away.  'If  you 

in 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

do,  my  father  will  trail  you  and  kill  you/  she 
said. 

Sometimes  the  Lion-person  took  his  canoe 
to  the  lake,  and  then  Strikes-and-kills  walked 
about  until  he  returned. 

"At  last  he  was  a  man.  Strikes-and-kills  had 
grown  up,  and  he  loved  the  Lion-woman.  She 
had  always  been  kind  to  him  and  so  he  loved 
her.  He  was  a  good  hunter,  and  when  her 
father,  the  Lion-person,  forgot  to  bring  meat 
to  the  lodge,  Strikes-and-kills  would  kill  a  deer 
and  bring  in  the  meat.  That  made  her  love 
him,  so  one  day  they  were  married.  Her  father 
treated  her  badly,  and  sometimes  Strikes-and- 
kills  was  made  angry,  but  he  dared  not  fight 
the  Lion-person  even  when  he  abused  her  in 
the  lodge. 

"One  day  Strikes-and-kills  was  looking  for 
service-berry  bushes.  He  wanted  to  make  some 
arrows,  and  complained  because  all  the  bushes 
grew  crooked  limbs.  'I  know  where  there  are 
plenty  of  straight  ones/  said  the  Lion-person. 

112 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

'Get  into  my  canoe  and  I  '11  take  you  to  them/ 
So  Strikes-and-kills  got  into  the  canoe  and  the 
Lion-person  paddled  away.  They  had  been  long 
upon  the  lake  when  at  last  they  reached  an 
island.  'Get  out/  said  the  Lion-person.  'You 
will  find  plenty  of  straight  service-berry  bushes 
on  this  island/ 

Strikes-and-kills  got  out  of  the  canoe,  but  as 
soon  as  he  was  on  the  land  the  Lion-person 
paddled  away.  'Wait/  called  Strikes-and-kills. 
'Wait  for  me/ 

"'I  '11  leave  you  for  the  Eagles.  They  will 
pick  your  bones/  answered  the  Lion-person, 
and  kept  paddling  the  canoe.  Strikes-and-kills 
thought  of  his  wife,  the  Lion-woman.  He  called 
and  begged  the  Lion-person  to  come  back,  but 
he  would  not  come,  nor  answer. 

"Gulls  flew  about  the  island  and  at  last  an 
Eagle  came  and  sat  upon  a  limb  of  a  dead  tree 
near  the  water.  There  was  a  large  rock  under 
the  tree,  and  on  the  rock  sat  a  White  Gull. 

'"Kill  that  Eagle/  said  the  White  Gull  to 

113 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

Strikes-and-kills.  'Kill  him  before  he  flies 
away/ 

"Strikes-and-kills  fitted  an  arrow  to  his  bow 
string.  ZIPPP !  went  the  arrow,  and  the  Eagle 
fell  dead. 

"'Now  take  his  skin  from  his  body  before  it 
grows  cold/  said  the  White  Gull. 

"'Who  are  you?'  asked  Strikes-and-kills  as 
he  began  to  take  the  skin  from  the  Eagle's 
body. 

'"I  am  Old-man,'  said  the  White  Gull.  'I 
saw  it  all.  I  know  all  about  it.  That 's  a 
mean  Person,  that  Lion-man,  but  you  shall  go 
back  to  your  lodge  —  back  to  your  wife  and 
stay  there/ 

"When  Strikes-and-kills  had  taken  the  skin 
from  the  Eagle's  body,  he  looked  at  the  White 
Gull  to  see  what  he  wanted  him  to  do  next. 

"'Now  crawl  into  the  Eagle's  skin/  said  the 
White  Gull.  'It  will  stretch  and  fit  you  as 
well  as  it  did  the  Eagle/ 

"Strikes-and-kills  crawled  into  the  skin,  as 

114 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

the  White  Gull  told  him  he  must,  and  the  skin 
did  stretch  and  did  fit  him  as  well  as  it  had 
fitted  the  Eagle. 

"'Now/  said  the  White  Gull,  'fly  to  your 
lodge  and  see  if  you  can  get  along  with  your 
father-in-law.  Good-by.' 

"Strikes-and-kills  took  a  big  stone  in  his 
talons  and  flew  high  up  in  the  air.  He  went 
up,  up,  up  until  he  was  very  high  above  the 
water,  and  then  he  headed  for  his  lodge  with 
the  big  stone  in  his  talons.  Away  out  on  the 
waters  of  the  lake  there  was  a  speck.  Strikes- 
and-kills  knew  it  was  the  canoe  of  the  Lion- 
person,  so  he  flew  straight  over  it,  and  when 
he  was  high  above  the  canoe  and  right  over 
the  head  of  the  Lion-person,  he  let  go  of  the 
big  rock.  SWOW!  HO!  the  big  rock  missed 
the  head  of  the  Lion-person,  but  went  straight 
through  the  bottom  of  the  bark  canoe.  HO! 
the  Lion-person  was  in  the  water.  The  broken 
canoe  would  not  carry  him.  There  was  a  great 
splashing !  HO !  Strikes-and-kills  flew  away  and 

115 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

left  the  Lion-person  to  swim  to  the  land  or  die 
there  in  the  water. 

"When  Strikes-and-kills  reached  the  lodge 
he  told  his  wife  what  had  happened,  and  how  he 
had  treated  her  father.  'You  did  well/  she 
said.  'But  the  water  will  not  kill  my  father. 
Listen.  I  will  tell  you  a  great  secret.  Go  to 
the  shore  of  the  lake  and  you  will  see  a  dead 
pine-tree.  There  is  a  great  rock  near  that  tree, 
and  in  the  tree-top  is  an  Eagle's  nest.  Listen 
well  to  my  words,  now.  My  father  keeps  his 
heart  in  that  nest  in  the  top  of  the  dead  pine- 
tree.  If  you  can  kill  his  heart,  he  will  die,  but 
as  long  as  his  heart  lives,  so  will  he  live.  You 
must  be  brave  and  careful  for  there  are  two 
Wicked  Snakes  that  guard  the  tree-of-the-nest. 
After  you  pass  them  you  will  meet  two  bad- 
hearted  Mountain  Lions  that  always  watch  the 
tree-of-the-nest  with  the  Snakes.  These  two 
Lions  are  my  father's  brothers.  They  know 
his  heart  is  in  the  Eagle's  nest,  and  will  fight 
you  if  they  find  you  near  the  tree.  Now,  be 

116 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

careful.  Do  not  lose  your  life.  Be  brave  and 
try  to  kill  my  father's  heart,  but  keep  your  life. 
It  is  time  my  father  came  to  the  lodge,  now. 
You  had  better  go  away  and  save  trouble.  I 
will  be  here  waiting  for  you  whenever  you  come 
for  me/ 

"Strikes-and-kills  went  into  the  forest.  He 
was  thinking  as  he  walked.  How  could  he  kill 
the  heart  of  the  Lion-person?  He  thought  of 
many  ways,  but,  at  last,  he  knew  what  he  would 
do.  He  hunted  for  a  fat  deer  and  killed  him. 
Then  he  cut  the  deer  into  pieces  and  made  four 
packs  of  the  meat.  Two  of  the  packs  were  large 
and  two  were  small.  He  tied  the  four  packs  of 
meat  with  bark,  and  with  them  upon  his  back, 
went  toward  the  lake.  He  was  careful.  He 
did  not  want  to  lose  his  life,  so  he  was  long  in 
finding  the  tree-of-the-nest.  But  at  last  he 
saw  it  far  ahead  and  commenced  to  walk  toward 
it.  First  he  must  find  the  Wicked  Snakes  — 
he  knew  that  —  but  before  he  saw  anything 
that  warned  him,  a  Big  Snake  raised  his  head 

117 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

from  behind  a  log  near  him.  'What  do  you 
want  here,  young  man?'  said  the  Snake. 

"'I  have  come  to  feed  you  some  meat/  said 
Strikes-and-kills.  'I  know  what  your  business 
is,  and  that  you  do  not  have  much  time  to 
hunt/  He  tossed  one  of  the  small  packs  of 
meat  to  the  Snake,  and  passed  on.  Soon  he 
met  the  other  Snake. 

"'Stop  where  you  are!  You  can  go  no 
farther.  Who  are  you?' 

"'I  am  the  son-in-law  of  the  man  whose  heart 
is  in  the  nest/  said  Strikes-and-kills.  'I  have 
brought  you  meat  to  eat/  The  Snake  believed 
him  and  Strikes-and-kills  went  on.  He  was 
near  the  tree.  His  heart  was  beating  fast. 
HO!  two  big  Mountain  Lions  stood  before 
him,  their  long  tails  swaying  from  side  to  side, 
and  their  green  eyes  glaring  in  the  forest's 
light.  HO !  Together  they  came  to  meet  him. 
'Who  are  you?'  asked  the  largest  one  of  the 
Lions. 

118 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

" '  I  am  Strikes-and-kills,  the  son-in-law  of  the 
one  whose  heart  is  in  the  nest.  I  am  a  relation 
of  yours,  for  his  daughter  is  my  wife.  See !  I 
have  brought  you  meat/  and  he  dropped  the 
two  remaining  packs  of  meat  before  him. 

"'We  are  hungry/  said  the  Smaller  Lion. 
'We  are  glad  that  you  thought  of  us.  Where  is 
our  brother  that  he  forgets  us?' 

" 'He  has  gone  on  a  long  journey  in  his  canoe/ 
said  Strikes-and-kills.  'I  have  come'  in  his 
place,  for  I  feared  you  might  be  hungry/ 

"The  hungry  Lions  began  to  eat  the  meat 
and  then  Strikes-and-kills  went  on.  In  a  short 
time  he  reached  the  tree,  and,  taking  his  bone- 
knife  in  his  mouth,  began  to  climb.  If  he  could 
but  reach  the  nest  before  the  Lions  finished  eat 
ing  the  meat,  all  would  be  well,  for,  if  he  killed 
the  heart  in  the  nest,  he  could  kill  the  two  lions 
easily.  He  knew  that  and  hurried.  At  last 
he  reached  the  nest  and  looked  in.  There, 
beating  in  the  light  of  day,  was  the  heart  of  his 

119 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

father-in-law,  the  Lion-person.  SWOW!  he 
drove  his  knife  into  the  heart  once,  twice,  three 
times,  four  times!  Then  it  stopped  beating. 
The  heart  was  dead. 

"Strikes-and-kills  climbed  down  to  the 
ground.  He  saw  neither  the  Lions  nor  the 
Wicked  Snakes,  but  went  to  the  lodge  without 
meeting  any  Person.  His  wife  ran  to  meet 
him.  'He's  dead/  she  cried.  'My  father  is 
dead !  He  dropped  down  dead  in  the  lodge/ 

"'Yes,'  said  Strikes-and-kills.  'I  killed  his 
heart.  It  was  then  that  he  died.  Now  come 
with  me,  for  I  must  look  for  my  brother.  I 
know  where  I  left  him.  We  must  see  if  he  is 
still  there.' 

"They  travelled  together  for  many  days  and 
nights.  At  last,  they  came  to  the  spot  where 
Strikes-and-kills  had  left  Little  Bear.  'Per 
haps  he  is  a  Wolf,  now,'  said  Strikes-and-kills, 
'but  I  shall  know  him/ 

Not  a  Person  was  in  sight.    They  looked 

120 


"He  drove  his  knife  into  the  heart,  once,  twice,  three  times,  four  times." 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

about  carefully.  Finally  they  saw  a  King 
fisher  sitting  on  the  limb  of  a  tree  near  the 
water. 

"'Have  you  seen  my  brother  about  here?' 
asked  Strikes-and-kills  of  the  Kingfisher. 

"'No/  said  the  Kingfisher.  'I  have  seen  no 
persons  around  here,  and  I  have  been  here  a 
long  time.  I  live  here/ 

"'What  are  you  doing  here?'  asked  Strikes- 
and-kills. 

'"Why,  I  'm  making  my  living  and  minding 
my  own  business.  Just  now  I  am  trying  to 
catch  one  of  those  small  fishes.  If  you  won't 
come  any  closer  maybe  they'd  come  nearer 
the  top/ 

"'Have  you  heard  anything  of  my  brother 
around  here  ?'  asked  Strikes-and-kills. 

"'Well/  said  the  Kingfisher,  'there  are  some 
queer  noises  down  there  in  the  water.  Lots  of 
strange  talking  goes  on  down  there  in  the  lake. 
I  often  hear  it/ 

121 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"'When  do  you  hear  it?  What  part  of  the 
day?'  asked  Strikes-and-kills. 

"'Oh,  mostly  before  the  Sun  comes  with  the 
Day.  But  it  won't  do  you  any  good  to  listen. 
They  are  not  your  kind  that  speak/ 

"HO!" 


122 


OLD-MAN'S  COURTING 


OLD-MAN'S  COURTING 

"'TVD-NIGHT  the  North-wind  is  blowing/' 
-••    said  War   Eagle.    "Grandmother,   put 
some  big  sticks  upon  the  fire,  for  I  will  tell  our 
grandchildren  of  Old-man's  courting." 

Grandmother  made  the  fire  burn  brightly. 
It  snapped  and  popped  as  though  inviting  a  tale 
of  mystery,  and  War  Eagle  smiled  as  he  laid 
his  pipe  away  and  straightened  his  back-rest. 

"It  was  a  stormy  day/'  he  began.  "Out  on 
the  plains  the  snow  was  piling  in  drifts.  Deep 
in  the  forests  the  snow  came  down  from  the 
sky,  and  even  there  the  breath  of  the  North 
did  not  let  it  lie  still;  even  there  the  snow-drifts 
piled  among  the  trees.  The  Snow-shoe-rabbit, 
white  and  scared,  hid  in  the  bushes  and  in  hollow 
logs  upon  the  ground.  The  Wolf  could  not 
travel.  The  Deer-people  and  the  Elk-people 

125 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

tramped  great  patches  in  the  snow  and  waited 
there  for  a  Chinook  wind  to  come. 

"At  last  it  was  ended.  The  North-wind  was 
still.  Hardly  a  sound  was  in  the  air.  Even 
the  Echo-people  slept  so  soundly  that  nothing 
wakened  them.  The  Owl  hooted  when  the 
night  came,  but  his  voice  was  alone.  None  of 
the  Echo-people  answered  —  the  snow  was  too 
deep.  They  were  sleeping  and  did  not  hear. 
Then  the  sky  cleared  and  the  Moon  came  out 
to  look  upon  the  World.  As  soon  as  the  Moon 
light  came  the  Shadow-people  crept  from  their 
lodges  and  stood  upon  the  snow,  mocking  things 
beside  them  as  the  Echo-people  mock  the  voices 
of  men  in  the  mountains  and  along  the  rivers. 
I  think  the  Shadow-people  and  the  Echo-people 
are  relations,  for  they  have  ways  that  are 
much  the  same  —  they  are  mimics  in  all  they 
do. 

"All  through  the  awful  storm  a  man  was 
travelling.  It  was  Old-man,  and  he  wallowed 
through  the  deep  snow  as  the  Bear  would,  if 

126 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

the  Bear  were  out,  but  he  wasn't.  He  had 
more  sense.  The  snow  was  too  deep.  The 
Bear  was  sleeping,  as  he  always  does  when  the 
snows  are  deep.  It  was  Old-man  that  taught 
the  Bear  to  do  that  way,  but  he  was  not  wise 
enough  to  do  it  himself.  It  is  strange  that  those 
who  are  able  to  tell  others  what  to  do,  do  not 
always  follow  their  own  teaching. 

So  Old-man  was  travelling  during  the  storm. 
He  was  tired  and  hungry  when  he  reached  the 
forest.  He  had  been  out  on  the  plains  and  had 
found  nothing  to  eat,  and  the  night  was  coming 
when  he  entered  the  forest.  None  of  the  Forest- 
people  were  stirring,  and  at  last  the  night  came 
on.  The  Moon  climbed  into  the  sky  to  watch 
the  World  until  the  Sun  came  with  the  Day. 
Finally  Old-man  found  a  big  spruce-tree  whose 
branches  reached  nearly  to  the  ground.  They 
did  reach  the  snow  that  was  piled  about  them. 
He  pushed  the  branches  aside  and  looked  in. 
The  ground  was  bare  and  dry  about  the  tree. 
No  snow  had  entered  there.  'Ho!'  he  cried. 

127 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

'I'll  camp  here.  I'll  spend  the  night  right 
here,  I  guess/ 

"A  Snow-shoe-rabbit  ran  out  as  OW-man 
entered,  and  he  cried:  'Wait.  Wait,  my 
brother.  I  am  lonesome.  I  want  to  talk  to 
you.' 

"'I  'm  afraid  of  you,'  said  the  Rabbit,  as  he 
ran  away  through  the  snow. 

"'I  made  you,'  said  OW-man. 

"'I  know  you  did,  but  you  made  more  en 
emies  for  me  than  for  anybody  else;  so  I  have 
to  be  careful.  I  '11  find  another  place  to  sleep.' 
And  he  ran  away. 

"'Everybody  is  afraid  of  me,  and  if  it  were 
not  for  me  there  wouldn't  be  anybody,'  said 
OW-man,  as  he  leaned  back  against  the  tree. 
Through  the  overhanging  branches  he  could 
see  the  Shadow-people  standing  on  the  snow, 
everywhere.  They  scarcely  moved,  but  waited 
patiently  for  the  Breeze  to  stir  the  trees  or 
move  the  branches  overhead;  then  they  danced 
as  long  as  the  Breeze  sang.  An  Owl  hooted 

128 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

away  in  the  snowy  forest.  'Whoooo — Whoooo 
-Who- Who!' 

"'Hey,  you  Owl-person!  Come  here.  I 
want  to  talk  to  Somebody,'  cried  Old-man. 
But  the  Owl  didn't  come.  He  didn't  even 
answer;  if  he  heard  the  call.  But  he  kept  at 
his  hooting  in  the  night. 

"It  was  warm  under  the  spruce-tree  and  Old- 
man's  eyelids  drooped,  shut  tight,  opened, 
drooped  once  more  —  and  he  was  asleep.  Ho ! 
he  was  snoring  loudly. 

"Something  stirred  on  the  other  side  of  the 
spruce-tree.  It  was  not  loud,  but  there  was  a 
noise  behind  Old-man,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
tree.  'Who  is  that?'  asked  Old-man. 

"'Myself  and  my  daughter,'  said  a  voice 
behind  the  tree. 

"'Who  are  you?' 

"The  voice  didn't  answer. 

"'Do  you  live  here?'  asked  Old-man. 

"'Yes,'  said  the  voice. 

"'She 's  pretty  —  very  pretty,'  said  Old-man. 

129 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

'"Who  's  pretty?'  asked  the  voice. 

'"Why,  your  daughter,  of  course/  said  Old- 
man.  'I 'ma  great  hunter,  too.  I  know  many 
things/ 

"The  voice  said  nothing. 

"'I  say  I  am  a  great  hunter  and  I  have  no 
woman/  said  OW-man.  But  the  voice  did  not 
reply. 

"'Say!  Can't  you  hear  me?  I  say  I  have 
no  woman  and  I  am  looking  for  one.  I  am  a 
great  hunter  and  will  be  good  to  any  woman 
I  get/ 

"All  was  still.    No  Person  answered. 

"'Give  me  your  daughter/  begged  Old-man. 
'I  '11  be  good  to  her  and  take  care  of  her/ 

"'You  '11  have  to  talk  to  my  daughter/  said 
the  voice. 

'"Will  you  not  talk  to  me,  woman?'  asked 
OW-man.  'Please  talk  to  me,  for  I  am  in  love 
with  you,  and  I  want  you/ 

'"Yes,  and  I  will  go  with  you,  if  you  will  be 
kind  to  me/  said  the  young  woman. 

130 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

" '  Well,  I  '11  be  good  to  you,  of  course.  Come 
and  sit  beside  me.' 

"She  came  and  sat  beside  him.  He  tried  to 
put  his  arm  about  her.  'Don't  do  that/  she 
cried.  'You  mustn't  do  that.' 

"'Why  not?' 

'"Because  I  am  hardly  a  Person,  yet.' 

'"Can't  I  tell  a  Person  when  I  see  her? 
Can't  I  tell  a  pretty  woman  with  my  eyes  ?' 

'"Oh,  you  think  you  can,'  said  the  young 
woman,  'but  I  am  not  quite  a  Person.  You 
cannot  court  me  any  more  until  twelve  days 
have  passed  —  then  I  '11  be  a  Person.' 

'"Do  you  think  I  'm  going  to  sit  here  and 
wait  for  twelve  days?  How  can  I  wait  twelve 
days?' 

"No  voice  answered  him. 

'"Well,  how  can  I?'  he  repeated. 

"No  answer. 

"  He  grabbed  at  the  woman.  WHIRRRRR ! 
a  blue  grouse  flew  from  beneath  the  spruce- 
tree  with  a  great  noise.  Old-man  had  grabbed 

131 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

in  his  sleep  and  had  fallen  over  on  his  face. 
When  he  sat  up  again  he  felt  something  soft  in 
his  hand.  It  was  full  of  the  tail-feathers  of  the 
bird  that  was  gone.  Ho !" 


132 


BILLY  BENT  AND  THE  ECHO  PEOPLE 


BILLY  BENT  AND  THE  ECHO  PEOPLE 


don't  know  Billy  Bent;  but  I  know 
him.  Billy  lives  in  the  Rocky  Mountains 
where  the  Missouri  River  is  born  and  where 
the  game  trails  wander  along  the  creeks  that 
feed  the  tributaries  of  that  wonderful  river. 
Billy  loves  to  follow  these  trails,  for  they  pass 
through  strange  places  —  places  that  are  as 
silent  and  as  wild  as  they  were  when  Christopher 
Columbus  sailed  from  Spain. 

Billy  told  me  once,  "If  you  sit  down  when 
you  come  to  one  of  those  lonesome  places  and 
sit  very  still  a  long  time  and  listen,  you'll  hear 
things." 

"What  kind  of  things,  Billy?"  I  asked. 

"Oh,  little  things,"  he  answered. 

Then  I  began  to  watch  Billy.  I  tried  to  hear 
the  "little  things"  in  lonesome  places,  too. 

For  a  long  time  I  couldn't  hear  anything, 

135 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

but  now  I  can.  And  I  know  where  Billy  learned 
to  look  and  listen,  besides.  I'll  tell  you  about 
it. 

One  day  when  Billy  was  ten  years  old  he 
was  sitting  on  a  log  that  had  fallen  across  a 
deer  trail.  The  log  had  been  there  so  long  that 
it  was  worn  where  the  trail  crossed  it.  He 
straddled  it  so  that  by  turning  his  head  he  could 
look  both  ways  along  the  trail. 

There  was  a  little  meadow-place  not  far  from 
the  log,  and  an  old  doe  lived  there  with  two 
spotted  fawns.  Billy  was  watching  for  her. 
He  knew  that  the  fawns  were  hidden  some 
where  in  the  long  grass  in  the  little  meadow, 
because  he  had  seen  them  several  times  be 
fore.  The  afternoon  was  warm,  and  mosquitoes 
bothered  him  a  good  deal,  but  he  knew  that 
the  fawns  would  not  move  from  their  beds  until 
their  mother  came  to  them;  so  he  waited. 

A  rabbit  bobbed  across  the  trail  not  far  from 
Billy.  When  it  entered  the  bushes  on  the  other 
side,  it  turned  suddenly,  and  almost  ran  against 

136 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

Billy's  foot.  Something  had  scared  the  rabbit. 
Billy's  eyes  searched  the  bushes  to  see  what 
it  could  be  that  had  frightened  the  rabbit,  and 
he  was  about  to  give  it  up  when  he  thought 
he  saw  a  man's  nose. 

Sometimes  shadows  and  leaves  and  bark 
and  sunshine  play  tricks  in  the  forest,  and  Billy 
knew  that;  but  he  looked  steadily  at  the  nose 
and  waited.  Then  he  thought  he  saw  an  eye, 
but  it  did  not  wink.  It  did  not  move  but  stared 
straight  ahead. 

"If  it 's  a  man's  eye  it 's  got  to  wink  some 
time."  That  is  what  Billy  told  me  he  thought 
as  he  watched. 

"There  were  more  mosquitoes  than  ever/'  said 
Billy.  "But  I  didn't  dare  to  brush  them  off 
for  fear  that  eye  would  wink  and  I  wouldn't 
see  it." 

At  last  a  breeze  moved  the  bushes  ever  so 
little,  but  enough  to  show  Billy  a  braid  of  hair. 
And  besides,  the  eye  winked,  or  he  thought 
it  did. 

137 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"Hello,"  whispered  Billy. 

"How,  Looks-and-listens."  The  words  were 
so  soft  spoken  that  they  barely  reached  Billy. 

It  was  Good  Voice,  an  aged  Indian  that  Billy 
knew.  And  there  is  where  it  began — I  mean, 
there  is  where  Billy  began  really  to  look  and 
listen. 

The  Indians  called  him  "Looks-and-listens," 
because  they  had  often  seen  him  alone  in  the 
mountains,  but  he  has  told  me  that  he  learned 
how  to  hear  and  see  things  from  Good  Voice, 
and  that  it  began  that  day. 

"What  are  you  doing  here?"  asked  Good 
Voice. 

"Oh,  just  waiting  and  listening  for  things," 
Billy  told  him. 

"There  are  many  sounds  to  hear,  and  strange 
things  to  see  for  those  who  have  good  ears  and 
eyes,"  said  the  Indian.  "What  do  you  like 
best  of  all  that  you  hear?" 

"I  don't  know  their  names,"  said  Billy. 

And  just  then  a  raven  flew  over  their  heads 

138 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

and  said,  "Caw,  caw!"  almost  the  same  as 
the  call  of  a  crow,  only  deeper  in  tone.  "Caw, 
caw!"  said  the  raven.  And,  "Caw,  caw!" 
came  an  answer,  a  little  fainter,  hollower,  and 
farther  away. 

Billy  smiled  and  looked  at  Good  Voice. 
"That 's  one  of  the  things  I  like  to  hear — that 
other  voice  that  answers  the  raven.  It  is  not 
a  bird  nor  a  man  nor  anything,  but  it 's  one 
of  those  strange  things  that  speak  where  quiet 
lives.  Do  you  know  what  it  is  that  answers 
ravens  and  others  that  make  noises  in  still  places, 
Good  Voice?" 

"Yes,"  said  the  Indian.  "I  know  who  speaks 
as  you  say.  They  are  the  Echo  People." 

"Where  do  they  live?"  asked  Billy. 

"In  the  silent  places,"  said  the  Indian. 

"Have  you  ever  seen  them,  Good  Voice?" 

"No,  I  have  never  seen  them,  but  I  have 
often  talked  to  them.  They  are  wonderful 
mimics,  the  Echo  People,  and  they  love  to 
laugh  but  they  will  not,  unless  you  laugh  and 

139 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

make  them  happy  with  your  own  mood.  They 
never  break  the  stillness  themselves,  but  hide 
behind  the  great  rocks  near  the  rivers  to  mock 
those  who  pass  and  use  their  voices.  They 
speak  every  language,  make  every  note  the 
large  birds  make,  and  answer  the  wolves  and 
coyotes  with  their  own  words.  They  sleep 
until  disturbed,  and  their  tribes  do  not  move 
but  stay  in  one  place  forever. 

"Come,  I  will  show  you  a  camp  where  the 
Echo  People  have  wonderful  voices.  Those 
same  voices  were  there  when  my  grandfather 
was  a  boy.  They  are  still  there  and  are  sleep 
ing,  but  I  will  wake  them  that  you  may  hear 
them  speak.  Come." 

It  was  after  sundown  when  Good  Voice  whis 
pered,  "We  are  nearly  there.  Make  no  noise 
until  I  speak  to  the  Echo  People.  When  they 
are  startled  many  speak  in  this  camp." 

Billy  walked  softly.  The  trail  suddenly 
turned  and  went  down  a  steep  hill  until  it 

140 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

reached  the  bank  of  a  river.  Then  it  began 
to  follow  the  stream  as  though  it  did  not  like 
to  leave  it  again. 

Good  Voice  stopped  and  held  up  his  hand. 
Billy  stood  still.  There  were  two  great  cliffs 
of  rock  not  far  away.  One  was  across  the  river, 
and  the  other  reached  much  higher  upon  the 
mountain  on  the  side  where  Good  Voice  and 
Billy  were.  Both  of  the  cliffs  were  colored  red 
and  yellow  and  white,  and  even  green,  by  the 
minerals  in  the  rock,  and  they  looked  very  beau 
tiful  in  the  soft  light  after  the  sun  had  gone. 

"Whooooo!  Hey!  Hey!"  Good  Voice 
yelled.  "Ho!  Ho!  Ho!  Echo  People. 
Looks-and-listens  has  come  to  your  camp!" 

"Wooooo!  Hey!  Hey!  Ho!  Ho!  Ho! 
Echo  People.  Looks-and-listens  has  come  to 
your  camp — camp — camp,"  replied  the  Echoes, 
using  his  exact  words  and  repeating  the  last 
over  and  over  again,  until  the  voices  could 
scarcely  be  heard. 

141 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"Have  they  run  away?"  asked  Billy. 

"No,"  said  Good  Voice.  "Those  that  spoke 
last  are  farther  away  than  the  ones  who  first 
answered  me.  This  is  a  large  camp  of  the  Echo 
People.  It  covers  much  ground.  Those  who 
live  on  the  outskirts  of  the  camp  did  not  answer 
me — they  answered  the  others  who  were  near 
us.  They  are  always  at  home.  They  never 
go  away,  but  they  are  great  sleepers  and  you 
would  think  they  would  not  wake  so  quickly. 
They  all  awake  at  once  and  all  answer  disturbers 
of  the  silence.  It  is  their  way.  I  have  never 
seen  them,  nor  did  my  grandfather  who  lived 
before  me/' 

"I  am  glad  I  know  where  they  live,  Good 
Voice,"  said  Billy.  "I  shall  come  here  often 
and  speak  that  they  may  awake  and  answer 
me.  I  must  go  home  now.  Can  I  come  to  your 
lodge  some  day?" 

"Yes,"  said  Good  Voice.    "Come." 

Billy  turned  back  over  the  dark  trail  toward 

142 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

his  home.  The  shadows  were  deep  in  the  forest 
and  along  the  river,  but  he  was  not  afraid.  "  I  '11 
ask  old  Good  Voice  about  the  Shadows  when  I 
visit  him,"  he  said  aloud,  as  he  climbed  a  steep 
hill.  For  Billy  sometimes  talks  to  himself. 


143 


OLD-MAN  AND  THE  SUN-DANCE 


OLD-MAN  AND  THE  SUN-DANCE 

HT^HERE  were  great  preparations  for  a  sun- 
•••  dance  in  the  village.  The  leaves  upon  the 
trees  were  nearly  full  grown,  and  it  was  time  for 
the  dance.  The  poles  for  the  sacred  lodge  had 
been  cut  and  were  ready  for  use.  Everyone 
was  talking  of  the  coming  event,  and  when  the 
children  came  to  War  Eagle's  lodge  they  were 
full  of  excitement  and  anxious  to  learn  of  the 
sun-dance. 

"The  sun-dance  is  old,"  said  War  Eagle. 
"Many  people  have  sun-dances.  No  man  can 
tell  who  first  made  the  sun-dance."  He  put 
away  his  pipe  and  was  silent  for  a  moment. 
Then  he  said: 

"  Once,  long  ago,  OW-man  was  travelling  in  the 
forest.  The  day  was  warm  and  he  was  thirsty. 
He  stopped  at  a  creek  to  drink,  and  after  drink 
ing  sat  still  and  listened  to  the  water  rippling 

147 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

over  the  stones  on  the  creek's  bottom.  He 
was  tired.  'High  Ho !'  he  yawned,  and  went  to 
sleep  there  by  the  water.  When  he  wakened  he 
heard  singing.  It  was  soft  and  low.  There 
were  no  loud  voices  among  the  singers.  He  lis 
tened,  but  could  see  no  people.  'Say,  you!'  he 
called,  'who  is  doing  that  singing?'  But  there 
was  no  answer.  He  called  again,  but  no  answer 
came,  and  the  singing  continued.  'That  is 
queer/  he  said.  'There 's  singing  going  on  and 
I  can  see  no  singers/  He  stood  up  and  looked 
about.  Not  a  man  was  in  sight.  He  walked 
down  the  creek  a  little  way  and  there  stood 
still  to  listen  again.  No  sound  came  to  him. 
The  singing  had  ceased.  'They  must  be  up  the 
creek/  he  said  aloud.  '  I  '11  go  up  that  way  and 
find  them/ 

"He  passed  the  place  where  he  had  slept 
without  stopping  and  went  on  up  the  stream. 
Then  he  stopped  and  looked  about.  He  stood 
very  still  to  listen,  but  there  was  no  sound  in 
the  forest  save  that  which  was  made  by  a  wood- 

148 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

pecker  on  a  tree-top.  'That  is  funny/  said  Old- 
man.  'I  'm  sure  that  I  heard  singing.  I  '11  go 
back  to  the  place  where  I  slept  and  listen  once 
more/ 

"He  went  back  and  stopped  to  listen.  The 
same  sound  of  singing  came  to  him.  '  It 's  right 
here/  he  muttered,  'but  I  can  see  no  people/ 
He  began  to  look  among  the  willows  that  grew 
along  the  creek  and  in  the  long  grass.  At  last 
he  saw  the  head  and  horns  of  a  Bull-elk.  The 
Elk  had  died  in  winter  and  the  wolves  had 
cleaned  the  bones  of  all  meat  and  hide,  but  the 
head  was  still  covered  with  the  skin.  The 
eyes  were  gone  and  the  skull  smelled  badly. 
0/rf-man  stood  still  and  looked  at  the  head  of 
the  Bull-elk  for  a  long  time.  And  then  he  saw  a 
Fly  go  into  the  head  through  one  of  the  eye 
holes  in  the  skull.  '  Ah ! '  he  cried,  'it  is  in  there. 
The  singing  is  in  there/ 

"He  knelt  beside  the  Elk's  head  and  listened. 
Yes,  there  was  singing  inside.  Many  low  voices 
were  singing  the  same  song.  Just  then  a  Fly 

149 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

came  out  and  Old-man  asked:  'What  is  going 
on  in  there?' 

"  'Oh,  it 's  a  sun-dance/  answered  the  Fly  and 
went  away. 

"Old-man  waited  until  another  Fly  came  out 
and  then  he  said:  'I  want  to  go  in  to  that  sun- 
dance.  Tell  me  how  to  get  in.' 

"'You  are  too  large/  said  the  Fly. 

'"No,  I  am  not  too  large/  declared  Old-man — 
'not  if  you  will  show  me  the  way — not  if  you 
will  help  me/ 

'"Well,  STOOP  LOW,  AND  KEEP  YOUR 
EYES  SHUT  TIGHT/  said  the  Fly.  'Perhaps 
you  can  get  in,  but  be  sure  to  keep  your  eyes 
shut  until  I  tell  you  to  open  them/ 

'"All  right.    I  'm  ready/  laughed  Old-man. 

"'No,  you  are  not  ready/  answered  the  Fly. 
'You  are  laughing/ 

" '  I  '11  stop  laughing.  I  have  stopped/  declared 
Old-man,  and  he  stooped  low  and  closed  his  eyes. 
He  began  to  squeeze  himself  into  the  eye-hole 
after  the  Fly.  The  singing  was  very  near,  but 

150 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

OW-man  was  not  yet  inside.  The  Fly  had  not 
told  him  to  open  his  eyes,  but  he  did.  Oh-Ho ! 
— he  did — and  he  was  stuck  hard  and  fast  there. 
He  could  not  move.  He  could  not  get  his  head 
out  of  the  eye-hole  in  the  Bull-elk's  head. 
Oh-ho!  OW-man  was  in  trouble.  He  began 
to  cry  and  twist  and  turn,  but  he  could  not 
get  out.  He  was  stuck  tight.  At  last  he  stood 
up  with  the  Bull-elk's  head  stuck  fast  to  his  own. 
He  began  to  run  through  the  forest  like  one 
who  has  lost  his  reason.  SWOW !  he  ran  into 
a  tree. 

"'What  tree  are  you?'  he  asked. 

"'I  'm  a  pine/  said  the  tree. 

"0W-man  ran  on  until  SWOW!  he  bumped 
into  another  tree. 

"'What  tree  are  you?9  he  cried. 

'"I  'm  a  spruce,'  replied  the  tree. 

"Away  he  went  again,  running  fast  and 
faster  through  the  forest  when  SWOW!  he 
struck  another  tree. 

"'What  tree  are  you?'  he  asked. 

151 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"'I  'm  a  birch/  said  the  tree.  'I  grow  near 
the  water/ 

"'Good!'  said  OW-man,  'but  where  is  the 
water  ? ' 

'"Right  ahead  of  you/  replied  the  birch- 
tree.  'Right  straight  ahead,  if  you  are  able  to 
get  it/ 

"OW-man  waded  out  into  the  water.  It  was 
a  lake  of  water  and  the  birch-tree  grew  near  it. 
The  water  grew  deeper  and  deeper  as  OW-man 
waded,  but  he  could  not  drink  because  of  the 
Bull-elk's  head  that  was  fast  upon  his  own. 
He  walked  farther  out  in  the  water.  'How 
deep  am  I  now,  Oh  Birch-tree?'  he  called. 

"'You  are  up  to  your  waist  in  the  water/ 
answered  the  tree. 

'"I  can't  drink  yet/  whined  OW-man,  and 
waded  still  farther  out  in  the  water.  'Now, 
how  deep  am  I  ? '  he  called. 

'"The  water  is  over  your  shoulders,  and  if 
you  go  farther  you  will  die/  answered  the  tree. 

"  Old-man  bent  his  head  to  try  to  drink. 

152 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"Then  there  was  a  great  noise  and  an  arrow 
struck  the  water  near  to  OW-man's  head  and 
he  ran — ran  away  into  the  forest  with  many  of 
our  people  after  him.  They  thought  that  he 
was  a  bull-elk  swimming  in  the  lake  and  chased 
him.  He  ran  even  faster  than  before.  He  was 
lucky  for  a  long  time,  but  finally  SWOW!  he 
ran  into  a  fir  tree  and  fell.  The  blow  broke 
the  Bull-elk's  skull  and  it  fell  away  from  Old- 
man's  head,  but  he  did  not  know  it.  He  was 
without  his  thoughts.  His  mind  was  asleep. 
The  fir  tree  had  hurt  him.  At  last  he  sat  up 
and  looked  about.  Many  people  stood  around 
him  and  they  were  laughing. 

"The  sun-dance  is  old.    Ho !" 


153 


WHY  THE  DOGS  HOWL  AT  NIGHT 


WHY  THE  DOGS  HOWL  AT  NIGHT 

"TTERE  is  some  tobacco,  grandfather,"  said 
•"•  Buffalo-calf.    "We  traded  a  robe  for  it 

at  the  fort.    It  is  for  you.    We  like  to  see  you 

smoke  your  pipe." 
"Yes,  grandfather/'  agreed  Eyes-in-the- water, 

"and  we  like  it  when  you  tell  us  stories  of  Old- 


man." 


"  Ah,"  said  War  Eagle,  "I  fear  that  I  can  tell 
you  no  more  stories  of  OW-man.  I  will  think 
while  I  smoke." 

He  lighted  his  pipe  and  smoked  in  silence 
while  the  children  waited  hopefully.  At  last, 
having  finished  with  the  pipe,  he  laid  it  away. 

'Old-man,  made  the  Dog-people,  of  course," 
he  said,  straightening  his  back-rest.  "You 
know  that  he  made  everything,  but  the  Dogs 
have  learned  many  things  since  they  were  made 

157 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

—things  that  OW-man  did  not  teach  them— 
things  that  he  did  not  think  of,  perhaps. 

"You  have  heard  the  Dogs  howl  at  night. 
You  have  wondered  why  they  do  that.  They 
are  howling  at  the  Dog-star  which  shines  at 
night  with  the  other  stars.  The  Dogs  believe 
that  they  have  relations  living  on  the  Dog- 
star,  and  speak  to  them  with  loud  voices,  for 
the  star  is  far  away.  The  Dog-star  comes  close 
to  the  world  sometimes  with  the  other  stars. 
It  is  then  that  the  Dogs  howl  at  night,  for  they 
believe  that  they  should  speak  to  their  people 
on  the  star  whenever  they  are  near  enough  to 
hear  their  voices. 

"When  people  believe  that  such  things  are 
right,  and  do  them  for  that  reason,  we  should 
not  complain.  That  is  why  we  never  object 
when  our  Dogs  howl  at  night.  We  know  why 
they  do  it,  and  we  know  that  they  believe  that 
it  is  the  right  thing  to  do.  We  know  that  they 
were  told  to  do  it.  I  will  tell  you  the  story: 

"Once,  a  long  time  ago,  the  Dogs  had  a  great 

158 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

chief.  He  was  wise.  He  was  just.  He  was 
strong  and  he  thought  of  ways  to  make  his  peo 
ple  better.  The  Dog-people  loved  their  chief, 
and  he  lived  to  be  very  old.  His  hair  grew  white 
with  the  snows  that  passed  his  head,  and  that 
is  the  mark  of  Manitou's  esteem.  The  chief- 
dog  made  long  journeys  into  the  mountains, 
alone.  He  went  there  to  dream  and  to  think. 
Voices  spoke  to  him  on  the  high  mountains, 
but  it  was  always  night  when  the  voices  spoke. 
At  last  he  learned  where  the  voices  came  from, 
but  he  did  not  speak  of  the  voices  to  his  people 
until  he  was  growing  old.  One  day  he  called  a 
council,  and  when  the  Dogs  were  all  assembled 
he  said: 

"'I  am  growing  old.  I  can  not  live  forever/ 
The  Dogs  began  to  whine  at  this,  but  he  told 
them  to  stop  it,  and  they  did  stop  it.  'Listen/ 
said  the  chief,  and  they  listened.  'I  have  spent 
much  time  alone/  he  told  them.  'Sometimes 
voices  have  spoken  to  me,  but  for  a  long  time  I 
did  not  know  whose  voice  it  was  that  spoke,  nor 

159 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

where  it  came  from.  I  always  listened,  and  al 
ways  the  voice  came  to  me  at  night.  One  night 
I  was  alone  in  the  mountains.  It  was  winter. 
The  snows  were  deep  and  crusted.  They  would 
bear  my  weight  everywhere.  The  cold  of  the 
night  was  terrible.  My  breath  was  white  and 
my  hair  was  frosted  from  it.  No  wind  was  stir 
ring  and  the  stars  seemed  to  be  just  above  the 
tree-tops  a  little  way.  They  were  bluish- white 
and  large,  and  very  near.  Not  a  sound  was  in 
the  air  except  my  own  footsteps  on  the  snow- 
crust.  The  strange,  moving  lights  that  some 
times  burn  in  the  north  were  dancing  that  night 
in  a  sheen  of  yellow-green.  They  ran  along 
the  mountain  tops,  and  reached  far  up  into  the 
sky,  but  when  I  had  climbed  to  where  they 
seemed  to  have  stopped,  they  were  gone — gone  to 
a  higher  mountain  farther  away  toward  the 
north.  I  followed,  because  I  thought  that  the 
voices  that  I  had  heard  so  many  times  came  from 
those  strange,  moving  lights.  I  stopped,  at 
last,  on  a  mountain  top  and  looked  at  the  strange 

160 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

lights  until  the  cold  would  let  me  stand  no 
longer.  I  started  to  move  away  when  a  voice 
said:  "Why  do  you  never  speak  to  your  rela 
tions  here?" 

" '" Where ?"  I  asked. 

"'"Here,"  replied  the  voice. 

"'I  looked  carefully,  but  could  see  nothing, 
nobody.  I  had  often  heard  that  same  voice, 
but  never  so  plainly.  "I  cannot  see  you,"  I 
said. 

"'"I  am  here  with  many  of  your  relations," 
replied  the  voice,  and  then  I  saw  a  star  that 
seemed  to  move  in  the  sky.  It  seemed  very  close 
and  I  watched  there  in  the  bitter  cold — watched 
and  listened.  I  heard  our  relations  on  the  star — 
many  of  them.  They  were  howling — trying  to 
make  us  hear  them,  but  their  voices  were  faint 
and  seemed  far  away.  Then  the  voice  spoke 
again.  "Hear  my  people?"  it  asked. 

"'"I  hear  them,  but  faintly,"  I  answered. 
"Are  you  with  them  on  the  star?" 

"'"Yes,  I  am  their  chief,"  said  the  voice. 

161 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

"I  would  that  your  people  and  mine  might  be 
close  friends  for  we  are  alike. " 

'"I  was  freezing.  I  told  the  Chief-dog  that 
I  could  stay  there  no  longer.  I  went  away,  but 
since  that  night  I  have  heard  the  voice  many 
times.  Before  I  die  I  want  to  make  friends  with 
our  relations  on  that  star,  and  I  ask  that  the 
strongest  among  the  young  Dogs  stand  before 
me/ 

"There  was  much  talking  among  the  Dogs — 
much  arguing  between  the  old  ones,  but  at  last 
a  large  Dog  came  and  stood  before  the  chief. 
He  was  young  and  strong  and  sound. 

" '  Are  you  the  strongest  Dog  among  the  young 
ones?'  asked  the  chief. 

"'They  say  that  I  am/  replied  the  Dog. 
'My  name  is  Friend  and  I  would  serve  you/ 

"'Good/  said  the  chief.  'I  am  going  to  send 
a  present  to  the  chief-dog  on  the  star.  The 
journey  will  be  a  long  one.  You  will  need  all 
the  snows  that  are  before  you,  and  you  will  be 
old  ere  you  return  to  us.  I  will  show  you  the 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

way,  but  I  warn  you  that  you  must  go  alone. 
Are  you  willing  to  make  the  journey?' 

"'I  am  willing,  chief/  Friend  answered.  'I 
am  willing  and  ready  to  go/ 

"'Good/  said  the  chief.  'Let  all  you  people 
go  now  and  bring  the  finest  piece  of  back-fat 
that  you  can  find.  Go  at  once/ 

"The  Dogs  went  away  and  began  to  hunt  for 
pieces  of  back-fat.  Whenever  a  Dog  found  a 
fine  piece  he  brought  it  to  the  chief.  Soon  a 
great  pile  of  back-fat  was  before  him,  and  the 
chief  carefully  examined  every  piece.  At  last 
he  found  one  that  suited  him.  It  was  hard  and 
white,  and  from  a  fresh-killed  buffalo  cow. 

'"This  will  do/  he  said.  'Now  get  me  a 
strong  string  of  rawhide/ 

"They  brought  the  string.  'Come  close, 
Friend/  said  the  chief,  and  the  young  dog  stood 
close.  The  chief  tied  the  back-fat  about  the 
neck  of  Friend  with  the  rawhide  string. 

"Then  he  turned  and  spoke  to  the  Dogs: 

'"We  are  going  away,  Friend  and  I,  but  I 

163 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

shall  return  soon.  Friend  will  not  come  back 
for  a  long  time;  perhaps  not  until  after  I  am 
dead.  Whenever  he  comes  you  must  honor 
him,  and  help  him,  for  he  will  be  old,  maybe. 
Come,  Friend/  and  they  went  away. 

"Many  days  passed  and  then  the  chief  came 
back  to  his  people.  He  did  not  speak  of  Friend 
or  of  his  journey.  Most  of  the  Dogs  had  for 
gotten  about  it,  when  one  day  the  chief  called 
another  council.  When  all  the  Dogs  had  ar 
rived  the  chief  said: 

"'I  have  made  a  mistake  and  I  would  mend 
it.  Friend  has  gone  to  the  Dog-star  with  a 
present  for  the  chief-dog.  Friend  is  young  now, 
but  he  may  be  old  when  he  returns,  for  nobody 
has  ever  made  so  long  a  journey.  We  know 
him  now,  but  age  changes  all  things.  He  may 
have  war  on  the  way  and  the  scars  of  battle 
help  time  to  disfigure  bodies.  I  should  have 
marked  that  Dog  so  that  we  would  know  him, 
no  matter  when  he  returns  to  us.  I  have 

164 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

thought  about  this,  and  I  ask  that  the  swiftest 
Dog  among  you  stand  before  me/ 

"The  Dogs  began  to  talk  and  there  was  some 
quarrelling  among  them,  but  finally  a  Dog  stood 
before  the  chief,  who  asked:  'Are  you  the 
swiftest  Dog  among  my  people?' 

"'They  say  that  I  am— all  but  one—  He 
thinks  that  he  can  beat  me/  replied  the  dog. 
'My  name  is  South- wind/ 

"'What  is  the  name  of  the  Dog  who  thinks 
that  he  can  beat  you  running?'  asked  the  chief. 

"'North- wind/  replied  the  dog. 

"Then  the  chief  called  for  North- wind  and  he 
came  and  stood  before  his  chief  with  South- 
wind. 

"'I  have  use  for  the  swiftest  among  my  peo 
ple/  said  the  chief.  '  I  must  not  make  a  mistake 
in  my  choice.  Run  to  the  top  of  that  hill  yon 
der,  and  the  one  that  returns  first  to  me,  shall 
be  my  messenger/ 

"Away  went  the  two  fast  Dogs  while  the  rest 

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INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

watched  the  race,  but  South- wind  was  first  to 
return  to  the  chief. 

"'Good/  he  said.  'South-wind,  I  want  you 
to  take  the  trail  of  Friend  and  bring  him  back. 
I  will  show  you  the  way  that  he  went.  Come/ 
And  the  chief  and  South- wind  left  the  rest  there 
at  the  council.  The  chief  returned  soon,  but 
most  of  the  Dogs  had  already  gone  to  their 
lodges. 

"It  was  nearly  winter  before  South- wind  re 
turned  with  Friend,  but  the  chief  called  a  coun 
cil  at  once.  He  asked  the  Dogs  to  bring  with 
them  the  best  piece  of  back-fat  that  they  could 
find.  They  came,  of  course,  and  they  all 
brought  a  piece  of  back-fat.  They  were  won 
dering  and  there  was  much  talking  among  them. 
At  last,  when  they  were  all  there,  the  chief 
spoke: 

"'I  will  send  Friend  upon  his  journey  once 
more,  but  when  he  returns  every  dog  will  know 
him,  no  matter  how  long  he  is  gone  from  among 
us.  Even  our  grandchildren  will  know  him  al- 

166 


INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

though  they  may  not  be  born.  We  shall  tell 
our  children  of  Friend's  long  journey  and  they, 
in  turn,  will  tell  their  children,  until  at  last  our 
messenger  returns  to  his  people.  He  selected 
the  best  piece  of  back-fat  from  the  pile  that  the 
Dogs  had  brought  to  the  council  and  tied  it 
about  the  neck  of  Friend  in  place  of  the  other 
piece  which  was  becoming  old.  'Now/  he 
said,  'I  have  made  a  musk  for  Friend.  There 
is  no  other  that  is  like  it.  There  never  can  be. 
You  cannot  mistake  it.  When  you  have  smelled 
it  you  will  know  it  ever  afterward.  I  have  made 
the  musk  from  roots  and  herbs  of  the  forest. 
The  secret  of  its  making  will  die  with  me  lest  it 
become  common.  I  want  every  Dog  to  come 
and  smell  this  musk/  and  they  came  and  smelled 
it.  'I  need  not  tell  you  to  remember  this 
smell/  said  the  chief.  'I  know  that  you  will 
never  forget  it/ 

"Then  he  took  a  stick  and  dipped  it  into  the 
musk  that  he  had  made.  He  rubbed  the  stick 
upon  the  root  of  Friend's  tail  and  said:  'There. 

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INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

That  will  never  come  off.  We  shall  know  you  by 
that  smell  and  we  shall  look  for  you  as  long  as  we 
live.  x  After  we  are  dead  our  children  will  look 
for  you  as  we  did.  Now  let  us  eat  the  rest  of 
this  pile  of  back-fat.  Let  us  feast,  and  from  the 
feast  send  our  gift  to  our  relations  on  the  Dog- 
star/ 

"They  ate  the  back-fat  and  told  stories  until 
nearly  morning.  At  last  the  chief  said :  '  Friend, 
is  there  anything  that  you  want  done  while  you 
are  away?' 

"'Yes/  replied  Friend,  'there  is.  I  wish  that 
our  people  would  howl  once  in  a  while  at  night, 
for  the  trail  to  the  Dog-star  is  lonesome.  I 
could  hear  the  voices  of  our  relations  on  the  star 
before  I  returned,  but  my  own  people  were  silent. 
Let  them  answer  our  relations  on  the  Dog-star. 
It  will  please  them  and  cheer  me/ 

"'Good/  said  the  chief.  'It  will  be  done. 
Do  you  hear,  my  people?  Once  in  a  while  you 
must  howl  at  night  when  the  Dog-star  is  near. 
Remember  that  all  your  lives.  Remember, 

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INDIAN  OLD-MAN  STORIES 

also,  to  look  for  Friend  and  whenever  you  see  a 
strange  Dog,  see  if  he  wears  the  musk  that  I 
have  put  upon  Friend.    Do  not  fail  in  this. 
Always  look  for  Friend  until  you  die.' 
"And  they  do.    Ho/' 


169 


LD  2l-50m-l, 


52568? 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


